"I'm no great shakes."

  "So you say. But I can see my initial assessment of you was correct. I'm glad I invited you to stay for a week."

  Grizzly's interest perked up. "A week?"

  "Yes. The three Bombers are here to arrange a barter agreement for their leader, Lobo. I plan to show them every hospitality Mesaville has to offer."

  The bear-man's features clouded. "They're my friends."

  "So I've gathered."

  "If anything happens to them, the person responsible answers to me."

  "I'll be sure the word is spread. Practically everyone in Mesaville is scared to death of you, and justifiably so. Your reputation is justly deserved," Death Master said, a note of insincerity in his tone. He abruptly stood. "I must be going. Enjoy yourself and we'll talk again real soon." With that, he made toward the exit and his entourage followed.

  Grizzly twisted to watch the mutant leave, then swung toward the Warrior. "Get out of Mesaville tonight."

  "I can't."

  "Didn't you hear him? He's planning to snuff all three of you."

  Blade glanced at the doorway. "You think so?" he asked innocently.

  "I know so. I know him like a book. He doesn't believe whatever you told him about being Bombers, and he'll arrange a fitting end to your stay in Mesaville."

  "Why do you work for him, Grizzly?"

  "You're changing the damn subject."

  The Warrior reached across the table and touched the hybrid's wrist. "I'm not leaving without you."

  "Forget me. I'm not going to join the lousy Force again."

  "Come with us anyway. This is no place for you."

  "How would you know? I was genetically bred to be the perfect assassin by the wacko Doktor. Slicing and dicing is in my blood. So what if I settled here so I could forget all about Athena and the Force? So what if I let my animal-half take control now and then? The jerks he pits me against are scumbags. So who does it hurt?"

  "You," Blade stated.

  Grizzly hissed and stood. "I'm wasting my breath talking to you. If you want to commit suicide, be my guest." He spun and stormed off, glowering at everyone in sight, his fists balled into mallets.

  For a few moments Blade sat there, drumming his fingers on the table. The reunion had not gone as he'd expected, but he still hoped to bring the hybrid around. Since Death Master wanted them to stay for a week he'd have plenty of time to try to change Grizzly's mind. He rose and walked to the bar.

  "Why was Grizzly so upset, sir?" Captain Havoc asked.

  Horatio picked up on the oversight right away. "Sir? Why did you call him sir?"

  The officer had to think fast. "Habit. The Bombers pick certain members as leaders, as officers so to speak. Blade is one of the top guys in our gang."

  "Oh," Horatio said, buying the reason. "It's a good thing we don't do the same thing in Mesaville. I can't stand calling anyone sir, except Death Master."

  Blade stood behind Athena and watched her down several mouthfuls of whiskey. "'I think you've had enough," he told her.

  "I'm just getting started."

  "No more," Blade said.

  "Get lost."

  The Warrior gripped her by the shoulders and whirled her around. Startled, she dropped her glass and gaped at him. "You seem to be forgetting a few things," he said sternly. "As Mike pointed out, I'm in charge. What I say goes. If you give me any lip, I'll toss you over my shoulder and carry you out of here."

  Athena glowered, her lips twitching and breathing heavy.

  "Remember where you are," Blade said, emphasizing every word.

  Glancing at the rowdy patrons, Athena abruptly realized the significance of his statement and let herself relax. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Won't happen again."

  "Good." Blade turned to their escort. "Where are we supposed to stay tonight?"

  "There's a place reserved for visiting VIPs not far from the club. Why?" Horatio said.

  "Take us there."

  "You want to crash now? It's still early."

  "We've had a rough day. Crossing the desert takes a lot out of a person, as you must know."

  Horatio nodded. "I sure do. Okay. I'll take you there." He took a step toward the door.

  "Shouldn't we pay for our drinks?" Blade asked.

  "Forget about it. The boss is picking up your tab," Horatio said and led them outside and to the right along a winding avenue. He looked back to make sure the others were following and coughed. "Say, I couldn't help but overhear back there. What was that business about Athena faking her own death?"

  "It's nothing important," Blade answered.

  "Sounded to me like Grizzly and she were once an item."

  The Warrior frowned. "Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong can be hazardous for your health."

  "Hey, lighten up. I didn't mean any harm."

  "Of course you didn't." Blade noticed they were entering an area where there were no bars or clubs and fewer people abroad. His gray eyes narrowed when they came near a narrow stretch of the avenue between two structures. He spied two lanterns that had been recently extinguished, as evidenced by the whitish smoke still curling up from them. He pretended to rest his hands on his Bowie hilts while surreptitiously loosening them in their sheaths.

  "I'm here to make your every wish come true," Horatio "was saying. "Whatever you want, you get. Need a broad tonight? I'll go get a clean one."

  "That won't be necessary."

  "If Athena wants a stud, I'll scrounge one up. Or she can always have her fun with me."

  The proposal brought an appropriate reaction from the journalist, two words that were uttered with the vehemence of an army drill instructor.

  "Hey, I was only trying to be helpful," Horatio said.

  He came abreast of the first extinguished lantern and paused. "This is odd. Who would snuff out a lantern? It's against the rules. I'd better report it." He moved on.

  Blade stared at the narrow gap, not more than four feet wide, and detected a flicker of movement.

  "Now where was I?" Horatio said. "Oh, yeah. You wouldn't be sorry if you humped me, Athena. I know how to turn a woman on. Why, I bet I've raped forty or fifty women and not one of them complained about the service."

  "Lay a hand on me and I'll cram my M-16 so far up your butt that the bullets will spray out your ears," Athena promised.

  "Whoa. Serious hostility. Do you have some problem with sex, lady?" Horatio asked just as he reached the gap and looked back at her.

  A hairy fist shot out of the darkness and crashed into the side of Horatio's head. He crumpled soundlessly on the spot, and an instant later two burly forms strode into the open.

  "We meet again, sucker," Slasher declared and snorted.

  "You didn't think we'd let you get away with roughing us up, did you?" added Blackjack with a smirk.

  Blade halted and placed his hands on his hips. "Aren't you two mental midgets making a big mistake? Death Master will be ticked off when he hears about this."

  "He'll never know," Slasher said. "By the time Horatio wakes up we'll be long gone and the three of you will be dead."

  Havoc and Athena stepped forward, one on each side of the Warrior, and leveled their M-16's.

  "Make a move and you're history," the officer told them.

  Slasher laughed, sounding like a hog in heat, and nodded. "Look behind you, jerk."

  "I'm not going to fall for that old trick," Havoc said.

  Blade shifted and gazed over his left shoulder to discover a third hybrid, a creature exhibiting the characteristics of a human and a weasel, standing ten feet off with a pump action shotgun aimed at their backs. "He's not joking."

  "The name is Garo," said the mutation. "Lower the rifles to the ground or I'll blow you in half."

  Slasher and Blackjack tittered.

  "Do as he says," Blade directed and placed his M-16 down. He stared at the Booby Twins as he straightened. "Death Master will figure out who killed us and feed you to his pets."

  "He won't do a thing without proof," Blackjack said. "And there won't be any proof."

  "Nobody lays a hand on me and gets away with it," Slasher growled. "Nobody."

  Again Blade slowly let his hands drift to his hips, only this time he draped them on his Bowies. "So you'll gun us down without giving us a chance to defend ourselves?"

  "Oh, you'll get your chance," Slasher said.

  Garo stamped his foot impatiently. "We don't have all night for this. Someone is bound to come along any minute. Get it over with."

  "My pleasure," Slasher said, bending at the waist. He slowly stalked toward the Warrior and gestured at Havoc and Athena. "You two stand to one side until this is over. It'll only take a few seconds."

  "Do as he says," Blade said.

  Captain Havoc adopted a karate stance. "We're in this together, sir."

  "That was an order. And quit calling me sir." Blade suddenly shoved both of them to the side, leaning toward the officer as he did to whisper, "Take out the weasel." His push sent them sprawling, and then he charged to meet Slasher head-on, his arms at his sides, hoping Garo was momentarily confused by the swirl of motion.

  Blackjack bellowed, "Look out for the blond guy!"

  A .45 boomed and someone screeched in agony.

  And then Blade was embroiled in his own combat, ducking under a blow that would have crushed his head to a pulp had it connected and whipping both Bowies out and up, spearing both razor tips into the boar-man's stomach, then driving them in to their hilts.

  Utter astonishment covered Slasher's animalistic visage as he grunted and tried to pull loose.

  Blade's shoulder and upper arm muscles bunched as he twisted the Bowies and sliced their keen edges upward through the boar-man's midsection, all the way to the sternum. He tore them out and stepped to the right, ready for round two.

  Slasher was a statue, his wide eyes gazing down at the blood, internal organs, and sticky abdominal fluid gushing from his ruptured body. Pressing his arms over the slits, he staggered and sank to his knees.

  Intent on watching the boar-man, Blade didn't awaken to the new danger until Athena shouted a warning. He perceived a pinkish figure hurtling toward him, and then a heavy body struck him in the gut, iron arms looped around his waist, and he was propelled onto his back with his assailant on top, his right Bowie jarred from his hands.

  "Die!" Blackjack roared and swung his fists twice.

  The blows connected, hitting Blade on the jaw and dazing him. He felt rigid fingers gouge into his neck and knew the creature was trying to crush his throat. His left arm was pinned under Blackjack's leg. His right was still loose. He rammed a punch into the mutation's chest, but it was like striking a block of granite.

  Athena materialized on the left, her M-16 pointing at Blackjack's head, but before she could squeeze the trigger he let go of the Warrior and lashed out, backhanding her on the temple and sending her sailing backwards.

  The enraged genetic deviate abruptly bent to one side and grabbed the right Bowie. He raised it aloft, grinned in triumph, and tensed to plunge the blade into the Warrior's heart.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Blade brought his right knee up into the hybrid's spine and lifted his right arm at the very millisecond the Bowie descended, causing Blackjack to lurch forward and making it easier to parry the beastly hand holding the knife with his forearms. He gripped the creature's left wrist, preventing Blackjack from drawing the Bowie back again, and rammed his left knee into the same spot as before.

  Snarling in fury, Blackjack tried to tear his arm from the Warrior's grasp. He arched his right fist at the giant's face and connected with a glancing blow to the cheek.

  Suddenly a piercing kiai rent the air and Captain Havoc flew out of nowhere, executing a perfect yoko-tobi-heri, a flying side kick. His right boot slammed squarely into Blackjack's nose and knocked the hybrid off the Warrior.

  Blade scrambled to his feet, the officer at his side.

  Still clutching the right Bowie, blood flowing from his crushed nostrils down over his mouth and chin onto his tusks, Blackjack growled and closed in, wildly swiping the knife back and forth.

  The Warrior and the officer parted, breaking in different directions.

  Blackjack went after the giant, lunging rashly.

  Blade countered with his left Bowie, blocking the thrust, then slid in close and drove his knee into the mutation's groin. He tried to plant the knife in the walrus-man's chest, but Blackjack skipped to the left, gurgling in agony.

  In darted Captain Havoc, intending to take the hybrid by surprise from the rear. He started to flick his right leg out.

  Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Blackjack swung his right arm in a semicircle and boxed the officer in the ear, toppling Havoc where he stood. Blackjack dropped to one knee and pressed the tip of his Bowie against Havoc's neck. "Drop your knife or he dies."

  The Warrior had no choice. He let the Bowie drop.

  Blackjack smirked. "Now come here, bastard."

  Still on his knees nearby, Slasher mustered a grin and shouted, "Kill the prick! Kill him!"

  Blade stepped slowly forward, his hands at his sides, his eyes on Blackjack's shoulders. There was a chance he could turn the tide, a slim one but the only opportunity he would have, and he must be ready when the time came.

  "I'm going to cut you into little pieces," Blackjack bragged.

  "Do it!" Slasher urged.

  Every nerve tingled as Blade came within striking range. He saw the hybrid's shoulders start to move and he whirled, turning completely around, knowing Blackjack wouldn't be able to stop the thrust in time, and praying he was right, praying Blackjack had speared the knife at his torso instead of the throat. He felt the knife thud into his backpack and whipped his right elbow around, hitting the arm that had held the second knife and hearing a distinct snap. In a fluid motion he sank into a crouch and moved a yard to the right to give himself room in case the mutant pressed the attack.

  Blackjack snarled and backpedaled, holding his broken left arm against his side.

  "Finish him off!" Slasher cried.

  Eager to end the fight, hearing voices of alarm upraised all around them, Blade dove, his outstretched hands closing on one of the Colts at Havoc's waist. He yanked the pistol out, extended his right arm, and saw fleeting fear register on Blackjack's face.

  "No! Please! I don't want to die."

  "Tough," Blade said and fired, the slug boring between the hybrid's eyes and exploding out the rear of his cranium. He shifted, aiming at the boar-man.

  "Screw you," Slasher said weakly, defiant to the last.

  "Ditto," Blade responded and blew the creature's brain apart with a precise shot.

  Now Mesaville was in a tumult. Footsteps pounded on the stone, coming from all directions, and there were countless confused shouts as everyone demanded to know what was going on.

  The Warrior stood. He reached behind him and wrenched the Bowie from the backpack, slid it in its sheath, then retrieved his other knife. Sticking the Colt back in Havoc's holster, he was about to try to revive his companions when Mesaville's inhabitants finally arrived on the scene.

  They came from both directions, a motley horde of men, women, and a few mutations. Upon spying the bodies they halted, keeping a healthy distance from the giant in the leather vest who rose and glared at both groups. No one dared speak.

  Blade regarded them with scarcely concealed contempt, waiting for someone to request an explanation or challenge him. Only when Athena groaned did he move, heading toward her prone form.

  Someone else got there first.

  From out of the throng on the left, a furry figure dashed up to her and knelt. "Athena?" Grizzly said, examining her for signs of a wound.

  "She was knocked out," Blade said.

  The bear-man gazed at each of the dead hybrids, then at the Warrior. "You never should have brought her here."

  "I couldn't stop her."

  "Damn you all to hell for what you're doing to me."

  "I'm sorry. I truly am. But we both know it had to be."

  Athena groaned again, then abruptly opened her eyes. Astonishment set in when she beheld the one beside her. "Grizzly?"

  "It's not the Easter Bunny," the bear-man snapped and swiftly rose. "I was just checking you for Blade to see if you were hurt."

  "Oh." Athena sat up, grimacing, and looked around her. "How is Mike?"

  Blade stepped over to the officer and bent down. There was a trace of blood where his ear had been split along the edge; if the blow had been any harder, his ear would have been flattened to a pulp. He gently gave the officer's shoulders a shake. "Mike? Rise and shine."

  A commotion in the crowd on the right caused Blade to straighten and swing around with his hands on his Bowies, facing the gap.

  "Let us through!" someone ordered. "Get the hell out of the way!"

  Seconds later the colossus of Mesaville appeared. A clear path magically materialized in front of him, and he strode into the open, eight armed men in leather attending him.

  Death Master stared at Horatio, then at the dead hybrids, his eyes lingering on each one.

  "Is this your idea of hospitality?" Blade waded right in, gesturing at the corpses. "If so, it leaves a lot to be desired."

  "What happened?"

  "What does it look like happened? We were jumped by three of your mutations and they tried to kill us," Blade said and then asked a question to which he already knew the answer. "Did you put them up to it?"

  Some in the throng gasped. Everyone strained to listen.

  Glowering, Death Master walked closer and halted next to Slasher. "I certainly did not," he answered angrily. "Why would I want to have you killed when I'm eager to set up trade relations with your gang?"

  "You tell me."

  One of the men in leather pointed a shotgun at the Warrior. "No one talks to our boss that way, bozo."

  "Put down the gun, Eric," Death Master commanded, and the bodyguard immediately obeyed. He looked at Blade. "I am sorry this occurred. In front of all these witnesses you have my formal public apology. Obviously Slasher and Blackjack were upset over the dispute they had with you earlier and wanted revenge. Garo was probably recruited to help them."

 

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