Dark Rider's Freelancing Chapter #2

The Black Leather Turncoat

Chapter #2 (Make sure you've already read Chapter 1 of the story)

Javert glanced up at the rotten wooden sign on the front of the crumbling two-story building.

Featherlight Pillows it read in flaking blue paint. This was the place.

“You only come in if you hear trouble...got it?” she asked to two armored men carrying Parabellum Mousers. They both nodded.

Head high, she strutted into the blackness of the entrance. Two shadowy figures followed as they walked past the two observing sentries. Javert revealed not a hint of fear to tarnish her look of confidence. She felt the stare of the wraith-like Dark Rider over her shoulder as he walked close behind her, and it made her feel untouchable. She would not, she could not be harmed while he was at her side.

They walked down a dark hall until they reached a small room lit only by a dangling 60 Watt light bulb. The room was totally bear except for two empty chairs on each side of a small wooden table and three men who stood opposite of them across the table.

Both groups stared across the table at each other.

“Mr. Al’Djinn.” she spoke confidently, offering the short, dark Arabic man in the middle her hand.

“Ms. Javert.” he said in a somewhat unfriendly tone with a thick Arabic accent as he took her hand.

“I’m sure you remember Elias” she said while gesturing towards him. Elias was now dressed in a black jumpsuit marked with a large gray “E” on the chest. A black mask covered his face and a long black cape that hung to the ankles of his black boots completed the costume.

“And this” she spoke looking over her new warrior “is the Dark Rider.”

Al’Djinn looked at him skeptically at first but there soon came a look of realization over his face.

“What’s going on?” he asked in a somewhat confused tone.

“Don’t worry Mr. Al’Djinn, he’s with us now.” she responded.

“Well Ms. Javert,” he said with his own look of confidence showing, “Let me introduce you to Atham.” He gestured towards the small, young Arabic man standing across from Elias. Through his helmet Alex could see the outline of a gun in Atham’s overcoat.

The man opposite of Alex began to drool openly onto the floor. Alex looked across the table into the man’s--if you could call it a man’s--eyes. His right eye was deep green and he appeared to be squinting out of it...it didn’t appear to be fully functional. His left eye was glowing red and unlike it’s brother it was wide open. Alex quickly realized that he had no eyelid to that half of his face. The right side of his mouth was pulled upwards into a permanent snarl that revealed a set of grotesque, animal-like fangs. One huge arm lifted to scratch his greasy, black-haired scalp with one of his gigantic black claws. The thing stood at roughly 8 feet tall and leaning next to him against the wall was a gigantic 4 foot wooden club.

“And this,” Al’Djinn continued with a smile “is Berserka”. He was trained by Nighthawk himself until he was expelled from training for a lack of honor and discipline.”

The pool grew as Berzerka's saliva continued to drip to the floor.

Javert and Al’Djinn sat in the unused seats and began talking of business deals mostly revolving around uranium. But it wasn’t Alex’s job to listen in on the deals, it was his job to watch Al’Djinn’s goons and he kept an extra good eye on Berserka.

At one point during a disagreement, Javert almost gave in to Al’Djinn’s unfair demands but as she glanced up at her mighty Dark Rider staring down the towering freak across from him like he was nothing to be concerned about, she felt the confidence swell inside her and she held her ground.

“Your stubbornness will displease Mr. Al’Djinn.” Djinn said with a large smile coming over his face.

“What?” Javert asked confused “Who are you?”

Out of the corner of Alex’s eye he saw a suspicious glance from Atham. Like lightning both Atham and the Dark Rider drew there sidearms and for one split second both young men stared down the barrel of the other’s weapon as the guns reached eye-level.

That second seemed like an eternity until eternity was cut short by the blast of a gun.

Atham fell to his knees, followed by the floor. Alex remained as he had when he had shot the man...his arms extended and his Colt pointed.

A screeching sound burst forth from the mouth of Al’Djinn catching everybody off guard. Everyone that is except Berserka, who took advantage of it and barreled into the Dark Rider sending them both to the ground and rendering the Colt airborne.

The two warriors fought it out on the ground bare-fisted and almost comically it looked as if Mike Tyson had just joined the feather-weight. As he wrestled the monster, all caught sight of Al’Djinn transforming into something inhuman. His new slender, black limbs made him look like like a human bug. Like a giant spider he dove over the table at the still surprised Javert but was intercepted by Elias who knocked him back onto the it.

Berserka got up off the ground and lifted the Dark Rider, then shoved him against the wall with one huge claw. With his free hand Berserka began pummeling Alex’s stomach.

Alex could hear gunshots from the outside giving testament to another battle, a battle that seemed so far away from him. ..

While Alex was hearing these gunshots and Berserka was busy pounding his stomach into his wind-pipe, he saw Javert rush to help Elias as he wrestled with the spindly black creature.

With one swift kick to the other’s groin the Dark Rider released himself from the beast’s onslaught. Unfortunately the freak had located his club and began swinging it madly. Alex leapt towards his abandoned weapon like a cat towards a toy but Berzerka’s club clipped his knee and knock him back to the floor he was seeing so much of.

Past his rapidly approaching monstrous opponent Alex seen Elias and the bug-beast smashing each other against the wall. Javert looked over to her vulnerable comrade and dove to his aid. With amazing agility she leapt onto the back of the raging Berzerka. She held tight for a few moments but Berzerka finally grappled her in one huge hand and tossed her against the wall like a child would do to an uninteresting doll.

Javert had barely reached her landing spot before the Dark Rider was screaming in rage and slamming his large adversary backwards. The beast had lost a few steps of ground.

A sickening snapping sound came from the opposite side of the room, followed up by the victory scream of Elias. Elias discarded the broken black corpse and leapt towards Berzerka.

Maybe that right eye isn’t so useless after all Alex thought to himself as Berzerka’s club took a wide swing right hammering into Elias’ chest with a thud and sending him flying across the room.

Javert stood up with her left arm dangling uselessly at her side and ran blindly towards Berzerka, yelling madly. Berzerka swung his club like a newspaper at a bug but just barely missed on account of the Dark Rider tackling Javert out of the range of the lethal bludgeon.

They both landed next to the body of Atham. Berzerka lifted the great club over his head for the final crushing blow and Javert saw her life flash before her eyes.

A shot rang out like thunder hurtling the creature to the ground. Alex lifted himself off the ground and kept Atham’s Mouser pointed at Berzerka but the beast didn’t move.

One large bullet hole between his good eye and his bad eye gave him the appearance of a third, empty eye socket.

One of Javert’s armored soldiers limped through the doorway.

“It’s a setup” he coughed out.

Javert knelt next to Elias’ still form and began to weep. Alex hobbled towards her and removed his helmet. His short brown hair was soaked with perspiration. He ran one leather-gloved hand through it and held her in his arms.

“We gotta go blondie” he whispered in her ear.

“I know” she said back

The armored soldier and the Dark Rider lifted their dead comrade and left as quickly as they came.

This work was written by Ash