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His family had left the country, so he’d heard from Levi, last time he checked. The news put his mind slightly at ease, though he still worried how he would pull off his plan.
His sanity seemed to have been slipping for weeks, ever since he’d found out what the Precursors had been using him for; Murdering innocent people who would threaten them in the future.
Levi had told him it wasn’t his fault, but Riley couldn’t shake the guilt. He was smarter than he himself knew, and the fact that he had remained blind to the truth for almost two months both baffled and infuriated him.
However, this meeting was his chance to start the process of his own redemption.
The Precursors probably knew who he was and that he had a family, but the latter had already been taken care of, the former though, that was trickier.
To fake his own death, Riley could think of no other person better to help him than Derrick Ozer…
***
The notification icon in the top right of Dozer’s computer screen lit up, then began blinking.
He clicked on it rather sluggishly, having not gotten much sleep the night before.
His slothfulness melted away however, as he read the contents of the message, his eyes growing wide and a cold hand passing over his heart.
Running a hand over his chin, Derrick muttered the last words in the letter, thoroughly worried, “Need your help, meet me at this address tonight, and be ready to fight.”
The young man sighed, obviously scared, but leapt up from his seat, stretched and ran over to his closet, throwing open the twin sliding doors and revealing his small but diverse wardrobe.
Choosing quickly, he threw on a fresh set of clothes, a pair of jeans with holes torn into the knees and a long sleeve white shirt along with a leather jacket thrown on over it. He snatched up his staff from just inside the closet door and rushed out the door, pulling a ball cap tight over his hairline…
***
The Operative sat inside the observatory at the building’s cafe, twiddling his thumbs as he waited, almost hyperventilating as he realized his plan was coming to fruition.
“Calm, Riley… Calm…” He muttered to himself, his left hand beginning to tremble. The man tried to stop himself from doing so but, finding it useless, grabbed his shaking hand with his right, stopping the motion entirely.
“If this is gonna work, you need to be calm Sanders…” He mumbled.
Eventually he got his appendage to stop shaking, but he still worried how the young man he had invited, Derrick Ozer, would react to his mad plan when he explained it in its entirety.
He’d given him plenty of explanation to come through the message he’d sent him, but Riley still wondered if he would believe his story. Even after the Operative had rehearsed it a hundred times in the mirror it still sounded insane.
However, from what he’d heard and read of Derrick, the guy seemed like a very stand up guy. He’d joined the RHG after two years of training to save his sister from some creep in the system. Riley could count on that part of him at least. The Agent knew if one of his family got kidnapped, he wouldn’t stop until he’d found them and killed the person who’d taken his wife or kids from him.
How did he know that? Well, having direct access to the CIA’s files helped. The only downside was that every time he used his eye to find those kind of things it would send a ping of his location back to the CIA, and more importantly, the Precursors. As such, he had to use it with discretion and caution.
He had never met Derrick personally, though for some reason he had the feeling he had before, but he shrugged off the thought as the sound of the Cafe’s door opening caught his attention.
A young man, maybe around his late teens strolled into the shop. Black hair draped itself across his forehead underneath a baseball cap, and brown eyes gazed around the place until they caught sight of its only customer.
“Mr. Sanders?” He asked, walking over and standing next to the table. Riley nodded to the seat across from him, and Derrick sat down, a small, baton like keychain attached to his belt loop jingling as he moved.
The Operative shook his head, “Please, call my Riley if you don’t mind. I’d like to think we’re friends.” He replied, waving a hand through the air in front of him.
Dozer gave a skeptical look along with a raised eyebrow, “We’ve never talked before. How could we be friends?” He asked, resting one arm on the table and hanging the other off the back of his chair.
Riley sighed, putting his head to the table before shooting it back up to look at his guest. “Alright, alright, enough of the formalities. You know why I called you here, right Derrick?” He questioned, gesturing wide with both hands.
The young man nodded, “You said you needed my help, I willingly obliged. Pardon me asking, but what exactly is it that you need assistance with?” He said, tilting his head.
The Agent rubbed his index and thumb together, beginning with a slight tremble in his tone, “Well, uh… You see, the place I work at, the CIA,” He explained, “I found out that the system had been taken over by a corrupt group of individuals known as the Precursors.”
Derrick looked confused, “The Pre-what now?” He asked, and Riley ran a hand over his forehead.
“Um, how best to describe it…” The man asked himself, rubbing his light stubble now. “A friend of mine, Levi Strider, is from the future. The Precursor’s annihilated his entire race. He found a way to return to the past, and he did. But his enemies followed him and, using me, are trying to destroy anyone who stands in their way in the future.”
Riley’s young accomplice sat back and shook his head, clearly overwhelmed. “Sheesh, that’s some heavy stuff. And I thought I had a hard task of looking for my sister.” He responded, smiling half-heartedly.
The Operative smiled, laughing under his breath, “You’re a good man if you’re still searching Derrick. When was she taken from you?” He asked, now curious.
Dozer looked down, sadness and grief wracking his voice, “Over two years ago. Still haven’t found her…” was his reply. Riley found himself fumbling for words, but managed to whisper a sentence.
“And at such a young age…” he muttered.
Derrick glanced up, having barely heard the phrase, “What do you mean?”
The former CIA breathed sharply out of his mouth, a slight anger creeping it’s way into his tone. “I know if someone took one of my loved ones away from me.” He nodded to himself, pursing his lips, “I wouldn’t stop until I’d found them.”
The young man smiled, “Thanks Riley…”
He nodded again, smiling back at his companion. The Operative subconsciously began speaking a certain quote, mostly just to himself, but loud enough for Derrick to hear. “But you must always remember that the only way for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing…” he cited, growing solemn.
Dozer grew a curious gaze as he spoke, asking by the end, “Castlevania?” He said, grinning slightly.
Riley laughed aloud, something he had not done for a long time, “No. Edmund Burke. Though I did play that game, had lots of fun with my brothers and sister on the system.”
Derrick’s chest heaved as he tried to stop his laughter, “You got family then?” He inquired, still maintaining a grin.
The Dead Man Walking nodded his head, holding his smile, determined to not let the feelings go. “Yes… Two Brothers and a Sister.” He recounted, trying to recall the last time he’d seen them.
Derrick covered his mouth with a fist as he asked a second question, “What about your parents?” He questioned, his fit of laughter now over.
Riley grinned, “They’re both still living and breathing, I’m confident of that at least.” He replied. “But I don’t know if the CIA will use them as leverage against me.”
The other, younger man shrugged, “Depends on where they live. The Precursors can’t go outside their area of jurisdiction right? To get what they want, they’d have to play by the present’s rules.”
The older of the pair nodded a bit begrudgingly, “True, they couldn’t do anything suspicious inside the CIA without fear of being investigated by the higher ups in the organization.” He reminded himself.
Riley sighed and sat back in his chair, he looked at Derrick apologetically, “Needless to say, just by talking with you, I’ve probably put a target on your back.”
Dozer looked from side to side, seeing if anyone else was around. Finding no one, he turned back to the Agent, “So how we gonna shake ‘em off?”
The latter smiled a bit like an insane person, “Like this…”
In one swift motion, Riley leaned across the table, grabbed his shirt with the right arm, then swung him up, over, and through the window next to them. The glass shattered on impact, the screams of the cafe workers echoing through the air.
The Operative leapt through the now broken pane and stood a few feet away from Derrick, who struggled to stand up from the glass shards. Blood trickled down either side of his temples, and a look of angry shock was spread across his face. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING RILEY?!” He yelled, unhooking the keychain from his waist.
Riley laughed aloud, a sort of half-sane, half-insane bellow into the air. “Well I had to make it look real didn’t I?” He asked, raising both hands up to the sky and shrugging. “Can’t make the Precursor’s think I’m trying to psyche them out.”
Dozer’s face scrunched up in confusion, “What?” He demanded, blood beginning to fall from his chin.
Riley laughed again, quieter this time, but still noticeable. “I’m currently broadcasting our location to the CIA right now. If we can fake our deaths in time that they get here, we’ll be homefree.”
Derrick remained confused, “So you want my help faking your death?” He asked, flicking the keychain. As he did, it extended into a five and a half foot long bo staff with hollowed out tips.
He shrugged and nodded at the same time, agreeing, “More or less. But also, to protect you. They’ll be after your name too when they figure out I’ve spoken with you. They’ll have figured I told you about who they really are.”
Dozer looked at him like he was a madman, “Are you crazy?!” He yelled, bringing the staff up to his other hand and holding it taut.
Riley smiled, “More or less.” Seeing the doubt in Derrick’s eyes, the Operative continued to explain.”Look, I need your cooperation for this to work. If I don’t, we’ll both end up getting butchered by the CIA.”
Derrick, whose bleeding was beginning to slow as of that moment, nodded slowly. “Alright, I’ll bite, how do we do this?” He asked, breathing heavily.
The Agent held up a finger, “Just treat this like a regular RHG battle. I mean, as long as we’re here right?” He explained.
“So how much time does that give us?” Dozer asked.
Riley’s eye gave him an estimate, “My system’s saying around… Thirteen minutes?” He replied, making the “in the middle gesture” of shaking his hand.
Derrick nodded again, “Okay… Let’s go!”
Just then, Riley realized that the young man had been charging his staff, and now, a red ball of energy was resting on the end of the weapon. Derrick thrust it forward, raised his thumb, and the staff shot forward a blast of that slammed into the Agent and sent him flying backwards.
He soared back through the broken window and slid across the cafe’s floor. He got up shakily, having actually felt the blow pretty well. Dozer jumped back into the building and charged him with alarming speed.
Riley managed to raise his right forearm to block a strike from the bo staff, but was kicked in the stomach by a blow from his opponent, making him skid backwards across the ground.
Derrick kept advancing, forcing Riley to block each attack, but gave no room to counter either. He struck with ferocity, swiping with his weapon while simultaneously charging it up to blast him.
They kept it up for around a minute or so, until Dozer swung too hard, Riley dodged, and the young one went tumbling forward. Taking advantage of the opening, the Operative swung his right arm with full force and smashed his fist into his opponent’s ribcage.
The force was actually so great the Derrick went flying through the air and came down on top of the pavilion that was hanging over the cafe pickup window. He struggled to get up, and the kid gripped his side in anguish.
The older flexed his left shoulder and swung his right around in a wide circle. “Had enough yet?” He called from across the way. Derrick was now fully up, and he shook his head with a pained grin. “Not even close!”
Riley smiled back, then gestured for him to come at him, “Let’s keep going then! We still got nine minutes!” He called back, and his adversary leapt from his perch, raised his weapon above his head, and brought it down at Riley’s face.
The Operative raised his right arm and blocked the strike, reaching up with his left and grabbing Derrick mid-air and slamming him into the ground. The teenager coughed from the blow, but in turn released the button on his staff and unleashed a massive red blast of energy into Riley.
He flew through the air like a ragdoll, twisting and bending his lower body until his feet were back under him. Landing with deft precision, Riley cracked his neck and waited for the opponent to get back on his feet.
The kid managed to stand, but he held his back with his free hand and stumbled around for a minute. “You alright, bud?” He asked, walking over.
Derrick sighed in pain as he clutched his lower spine region. “I think you dislocated something in my back.” He replied.
Riley scanned over the injury and, noticing a bone jutting out from underneath the skin, he nodded, feeling a bit sick. “My bad… Can you still fight?” He muttered, scratching his chin.
Dozer laughed, “No… Heck no…”
The Agent laughed with him, “Well… I guess I win? I’m just glad I di-” He started, but was interrupted as several men in suits entered through the observatory doors…
Riley’s face paled and began to be covered in a cold sweat. “Time to go!” He yelled.
Using both arms, the Operative swept Derrick off the ground and slung him over his shoulders, fireman style. “That them?!” His now accomplice asked.
“Yep! We gotta get out of here!” He yelled back, leaping through the shattered window and busting butt towards the balcony ledge.
“Whoa, whoa! What are you doing? We’re gonna leap off of here?!” He screamed, now struggling to adjust himself on Riley’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, dude! I’ll take care of it!” With that said, he jumped up onto the railing, gunshots now resounding behind him as he leapt off the edge for all he was worth.
***
He was surprised how far he got. Even with his implants increasing his strength, Riley couldn’t have expected making it fifty feet out from the cliffside.
As the two misfits fell towards the Puget Sound, the Operative readjusted Derrick to be in front of him, and he wrapped both arms tight around his lower body, holding fast. “You still got your staff?!” He yelled over the wind.
“Yeah!”
“Charge it! As much as you can! Hit the water with it! Might help dampen the collision!”
“Alright!” He responded, and Dozer aimed the end towards the sea below, the end beginning to glow green. The water was racing towards them, and fast, but they still had about ten seconds until impact.
“Got it!” Derrick screamed, the tip now dark red.
Riley called back, trying to remain calm, “Do it now!”
The young man released the charge, and the bolt of energy shot down ahead of them, slamming into the surface and displacing a huge amount of the liquid, forming a sort of makeshift dent in it. “Hold