"Oof." Nine moved through the ventilation shaft carefully. He had no armor, so he was mindful of bolts and screws in the confined space.
He stopped for a moment to admire the cleanliness of the compound.
"Wally even keeps the VENTS spic and span." Nine smiled. "Haven't cut myself on a single rusty lug-nut."
He finally came to his destination. He carefully took the backpack from his shoulder, and set to work with an Alan Wrench, pulling out sockets from the vent's grate.
He could see two guards in the room he was targeting. They were un-armored. Possibly not even augmented. After all, there wasn't much danger in what they were guarding.
Nine quietly popped the grate, and seized the side of the vent, lowering himself painfully slowly.
Stealth wasn't his strong suit, but he wanted to make damn sure he had the element of surprise.
Nine dropped down in-between the two guards.
"KNOCK KNOCK."
The guards turned, and Nine seized their rifles. In one fluid motion, both men were disarmed. Before they could draw their stun batons, Nine hopped a foot into the air.
The first man caught a hard left cross to the temple. The blow threw him backwards and against one of the cots in the small, secluded barracks.
The second man received worse. Nine's right foot, clad in a rough black boot, struck his forehead and eye in a glancing blow. He fell flat on the floor, his eyelid and forehead blackened, and left with a, frankly, comical footprint.
Nine folded his arms, happy with his handiwork.
The children in the barracks stared at him, wide-eyed and confused.
"...INSURRECTIONIS-"
Nine leaped over to the child and clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Nope. NOT an insurrectionist." Nine smiled, and released his hand. "And I need you all to be good, quiet boys and girls."
"...Are you here to kill us?" One of the children, a little girl, whimpered in fear.
Nine's eyebrow raised. "The heck is Manny and Walter teaching you little kids?" Nine crouched on the floor, and reached into his back-pack. "No. I'm here to give you something Wally and Manny aren't giving you."
The children gathered around in confusion and wonder. "Are you here to train us in something? You're sneaky like Master Manuel."
"Well...I'm KINDA here to teach you something."
Nine lifted the contents of his rucksack.
A stack of colorful books. One had a monkey in a yellow coat. Many had furry creatures, some frowning, some smiling cartoonishly. "Gather round kids. It's story time. We'll start with a book my boss read to me when I was a kid. It's called 'Green Eggs and Ham.'" Nine smiled, and sat cross legged on the floor.
The children sat, and listened as Nine began reading.
Selena stared at the screen, a blank expression on her face.
"...You're saying he broke in." Selena turned to the guard behind her. The guard had a black eye, and was rubbing his shoulder painfully.
"Yes."
"No armor. No weapons. He simply flattened ten of our security personnel barehanded, leaving them unconscious. And he immediately went to the children's barracks, just to read them children's books."
"...Yes."
"And none of you could stop him."
"...No."
"And he's been in there for four hours."
"...We thought it would be wise, considering how many employees he's bested, to allow him to finish."
"I want a full report from your unit. This conversation will continue with Master Law present. Call for Agent Ten and Manuel."
Nine turned a page, the children training their eyes on him with interest.
"So did the bear catch the fox?"
"Yes. The bear smacked the fox with his big 'ol paw, and threw the fox onto a ledge. But that clever fox was smart. He tricked the bear into climbing on a log, and that big bear snapped the log in half, and fell down the waterfall."
"Cool!"
"Tell another one!"
Nine shut the book. He heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall.
"ACTUALLY, I have to go now. Mister Manny probably wants to put me in time out." Nine smiled. "I'll be back some other time."
Nine knew it was rather important to exit quickly. He looked up at the vent.
There were two sets of footsteps. Both Spartan IIs.
Manuel was one thing, but the other guy sounded like Agent Ten. Nine wasn't looking for a broken collarbone.
But he stopped as a little girl, perhaps six or seven, caught his pants leg.
"Thanks for reading to us."
Nine smiled. "Anytime."
"Nope. Not anytime."
Nine looked across the small barracks. Lloyd, or as the Legion designated him, Agent Ten, cracked his knuckles.
"...So, it's time for a new lesson. Get out of the way, kids." Nine smiled as Ten, a burly, imposing Spartan II, stepped forward. Nine rolled up his sleeves. "Well, I'm happy to see you Lloyd!"
"I'ma kick your head in, Nine, and I'ma get paid for it."
"If it's a whoopin' yer-a-wantin', come and get it!" Nine raised his knuckles.
Ten charged faster than Nine could register, but Nine's timing was perfect. He ducked to the side, avoiding a colossal punch, and stuck his leg out.
Their shins collided painfully, but Nine managed to trip Ten. The Spartan slammed face forward onto the ground. He was out of practice. A year earlier, and Ten would have countered that trick easily.
Nine leaped onto Lloyd's shoulders, and shoved his legs down, leaping off of his back and cramming the bigger Spartan's forehead against the ground again. By the time Ten looked up, Nine was scrambling hand over fist up the vent.
The children cheered, ecstatic with their new friend's escape.
Ten grumbled, wiping blood off his forehead.
"Manny, he's heading your way." Ten growled into the comms. "Save some of the kid for me. I'll rip his head off..."
Nine grinned as he dropped down from a vent into the hall. "That was so friggin swee-"
Manuel's arm slammed into Nine's throat, and put him on the ground before he could utter one final consonant. The larger, annoyed Spartan seized the back of Nine's neck and threw a hard punch into his stomach, knocking more wind out of him.
"Stay down." Manuel grunted. "How many times are you gonna break into this place?! Just stay the hell home, you little-"
Nine stood and thrust his elbow up. Manuel avoided the attack with ease. Nine was winded and sore from Manuel's first assault.
Nine refused to back down, throwing punch after punch at Manuel, who stepped back, avoiding each shot.
Manuel lost his footing, and Nine capitalized on the chance with a knee to Manny's gut. Manuel spat, feeling stomach acid creep up his throat. Nine swung a mighty punch, biting into his lip with his knuckles.
Manuel backed up, wiping his mouth.
"Manny, you of all people should appreciate story time." Nine smiled. "In all seriousness, I'm tryin' to spread some good-will to kids who NEED some. Walter wouldn't let me do it the nice way. If anything, you ought to be thankin-"
Manuel's fist came faster than Nine could blink. Blindsided, Nine stumbled back, his vision blurry.
"False hope. Property damage. Kicking the hell out of Legion employees. That's all you ever seem to amount to." Manuel paced, as Nine regained his bearings. "But, I like you. You're a good guy. One more warning. Give it up or it'll get nasty, John."
Nine wiped his jaw, where Manuel had jarred him.
"Thank you sir, may I have another?"
Manuel prepared himself.
"He got fightin' mad, this Manny lad~!"
Nine paced, singing mockingly, making light of the confrontation. He adopted an old english announcer voice, as if he were providing the score to a western drama.
"Johnny packed some books, and read to some kids, now Manny wants to beat him uuuuuup~."
Manuel stifled a laugh, lowering his guard.
"Funny?" Nine grinned. Manuel seemed to be yielding.
"No. You just forgot to watch your back."
Nine turned, and Agent Ten's elbow came down on his head with enough force to drive a railroad spike. Nine's eyes widened with sudden, painful shock, as his brain slowly shut down.
"...Muffifunkin..."
Nine fell backwards on the floor, mouth agape and eyes rolled back, defeated.
"...For what it's worth," Manuel said to the unconscious Freelancer, "the tune was catchy."
War stared at Nine, whose head was bandaged after his recent trauma. This was one of many times they stared across War's desk at each-other.
Last time, War had openly mocked him for caring about children, kicked him, and reduced him to tears.
This time, Nine had broken into his compound, made fools of his security, bloodied two of his top soldiers, and read bed-time stories to his future Spartan program.
War's face was red with anger. He could hardly muster words to say to such reckless, pointless actions.
Nine was smiling, happy to drive War's rage.
"You should relax. Too much anger's bad for the blood pressure, Wally."
"DON'T CALL ME WALLY, YOU INSUFFERABLE CRETIN."
War took a moment to compose himself to no avail. His index finger thumped the table.
Ten soldiers downed. Two with concussions, and three had their firearms damaged beyond repair.
And punishing Nine in any way would only bring War trouble. He had to let it all go.
"...John, you are so...INTENSELY stupid. Just leave." War put his face in his palm. "...You sicken me."
Nine smiled, raised his hand, and offered it to War to shake. "See you later!"
War did not shake his hand.
Nine swung his arm and smacked a bottle of whiskey off of the table.
War gritted his teeth, and stood, pointing to the door and barking one word into Nine's face.
"OUT!!!"
Nine turned and sauntered out of the room. "Next time just fuckin' shake my hand then."
Selena kept her binoculars trained on the Freelancer Base. As one of the many annoyances of her life, she was assigned to keep an eye on Agent Nine.
The children were holding out hope that he would return. War didn't seem to want that.
But Selena saw no intent to storm the Legion's facility.
Nine was simply sitting on a bench, with his young daughter on his knee, reading her a story.
"...What a weird guy." Selena yawned, and had a swig of water.
He stopped for a moment to admire the cleanliness of the compound.
"Wally even keeps the VENTS spic and span." Nine smiled. "Haven't cut myself on a single rusty lug-nut."
He finally came to his destination. He carefully took the backpack from his shoulder, and set to work with an Alan Wrench, pulling out sockets from the vent's grate.
He could see two guards in the room he was targeting. They were un-armored. Possibly not even augmented. After all, there wasn't much danger in what they were guarding.
Nine quietly popped the grate, and seized the side of the vent, lowering himself painfully slowly.
Stealth wasn't his strong suit, but he wanted to make damn sure he had the element of surprise.
Nine dropped down in-between the two guards.
"KNOCK KNOCK."
The guards turned, and Nine seized their rifles. In one fluid motion, both men were disarmed. Before they could draw their stun batons, Nine hopped a foot into the air.
The first man caught a hard left cross to the temple. The blow threw him backwards and against one of the cots in the small, secluded barracks.
The second man received worse. Nine's right foot, clad in a rough black boot, struck his forehead and eye in a glancing blow. He fell flat on the floor, his eyelid and forehead blackened, and left with a, frankly, comical footprint.
Nine folded his arms, happy with his handiwork.
The children in the barracks stared at him, wide-eyed and confused.
"...INSURRECTIONIS-"
Nine leaped over to the child and clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Nope. NOT an insurrectionist." Nine smiled, and released his hand. "And I need you all to be good, quiet boys and girls."
"...Are you here to kill us?" One of the children, a little girl, whimpered in fear.
Nine's eyebrow raised. "The heck is Manny and Walter teaching you little kids?" Nine crouched on the floor, and reached into his back-pack. "No. I'm here to give you something Wally and Manny aren't giving you."
The children gathered around in confusion and wonder. "Are you here to train us in something? You're sneaky like Master Manuel."
"Well...I'm KINDA here to teach you something."
Nine lifted the contents of his rucksack.
A stack of colorful books. One had a monkey in a yellow coat. Many had furry creatures, some frowning, some smiling cartoonishly. "Gather round kids. It's story time. We'll start with a book my boss read to me when I was a kid. It's called 'Green Eggs and Ham.'" Nine smiled, and sat cross legged on the floor.
The children sat, and listened as Nine began reading.
Selena stared at the screen, a blank expression on her face.
"...You're saying he broke in." Selena turned to the guard behind her. The guard had a black eye, and was rubbing his shoulder painfully.
"Yes."
"No armor. No weapons. He simply flattened ten of our security personnel barehanded, leaving them unconscious. And he immediately went to the children's barracks, just to read them children's books."
"...Yes."
"And none of you could stop him."
"...No."
"And he's been in there for four hours."
"...We thought it would be wise, considering how many employees he's bested, to allow him to finish."
"I want a full report from your unit. This conversation will continue with Master Law present. Call for Agent Ten and Manuel."
Nine turned a page, the children training their eyes on him with interest.
"So did the bear catch the fox?"
"Yes. The bear smacked the fox with his big 'ol paw, and threw the fox onto a ledge. But that clever fox was smart. He tricked the bear into climbing on a log, and that big bear snapped the log in half, and fell down the waterfall."
"Cool!"
"Tell another one!"
Nine shut the book. He heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall.
"ACTUALLY, I have to go now. Mister Manny probably wants to put me in time out." Nine smiled. "I'll be back some other time."
Nine knew it was rather important to exit quickly. He looked up at the vent.
There were two sets of footsteps. Both Spartan IIs.
Manuel was one thing, but the other guy sounded like Agent Ten. Nine wasn't looking for a broken collarbone.
But he stopped as a little girl, perhaps six or seven, caught his pants leg.
"Thanks for reading to us."
Nine smiled. "Anytime."
"Nope. Not anytime."
Nine looked across the small barracks. Lloyd, or as the Legion designated him, Agent Ten, cracked his knuckles.
"...So, it's time for a new lesson. Get out of the way, kids." Nine smiled as Ten, a burly, imposing Spartan II, stepped forward. Nine rolled up his sleeves. "Well, I'm happy to see you Lloyd!"
"I'ma kick your head in, Nine, and I'ma get paid for it."
"If it's a whoopin' yer-a-wantin', come and get it!" Nine raised his knuckles.
Ten charged faster than Nine could register, but Nine's timing was perfect. He ducked to the side, avoiding a colossal punch, and stuck his leg out.
Their shins collided painfully, but Nine managed to trip Ten. The Spartan slammed face forward onto the ground. He was out of practice. A year earlier, and Ten would have countered that trick easily.
Nine leaped onto Lloyd's shoulders, and shoved his legs down, leaping off of his back and cramming the bigger Spartan's forehead against the ground again. By the time Ten looked up, Nine was scrambling hand over fist up the vent.
The children cheered, ecstatic with their new friend's escape.
Ten grumbled, wiping blood off his forehead.
"Manny, he's heading your way." Ten growled into the comms. "Save some of the kid for me. I'll rip his head off..."
Nine grinned as he dropped down from a vent into the hall. "That was so friggin swee-"
Manuel's arm slammed into Nine's throat, and put him on the ground before he could utter one final consonant. The larger, annoyed Spartan seized the back of Nine's neck and threw a hard punch into his stomach, knocking more wind out of him.
"Stay down." Manuel grunted. "How many times are you gonna break into this place?! Just stay the hell home, you little-"
Nine stood and thrust his elbow up. Manuel avoided the attack with ease. Nine was winded and sore from Manuel's first assault.
Nine refused to back down, throwing punch after punch at Manuel, who stepped back, avoiding each shot.
Manuel lost his footing, and Nine capitalized on the chance with a knee to Manny's gut. Manuel spat, feeling stomach acid creep up his throat. Nine swung a mighty punch, biting into his lip with his knuckles.
Manuel backed up, wiping his mouth.
"Manny, you of all people should appreciate story time." Nine smiled. "In all seriousness, I'm tryin' to spread some good-will to kids who NEED some. Walter wouldn't let me do it the nice way. If anything, you ought to be thankin-"
Manuel's fist came faster than Nine could blink. Blindsided, Nine stumbled back, his vision blurry.
"False hope. Property damage. Kicking the hell out of Legion employees. That's all you ever seem to amount to." Manuel paced, as Nine regained his bearings. "But, I like you. You're a good guy. One more warning. Give it up or it'll get nasty, John."
Nine wiped his jaw, where Manuel had jarred him.
"Thank you sir, may I have another?"
Manuel prepared himself.
"He got fightin' mad, this Manny lad~!"
Nine paced, singing mockingly, making light of the confrontation. He adopted an old english announcer voice, as if he were providing the score to a western drama.
"Johnny packed some books, and read to some kids, now Manny wants to beat him uuuuuup~."
Manuel stifled a laugh, lowering his guard.
"Funny?" Nine grinned. Manuel seemed to be yielding.
"No. You just forgot to watch your back."
Nine turned, and Agent Ten's elbow came down on his head with enough force to drive a railroad spike. Nine's eyes widened with sudden, painful shock, as his brain slowly shut down.
"...Muffifunkin..."
Nine fell backwards on the floor, mouth agape and eyes rolled back, defeated.
"...For what it's worth," Manuel said to the unconscious Freelancer, "the tune was catchy."
War stared at Nine, whose head was bandaged after his recent trauma. This was one of many times they stared across War's desk at each-other.
Last time, War had openly mocked him for caring about children, kicked him, and reduced him to tears.
This time, Nine had broken into his compound, made fools of his security, bloodied two of his top soldiers, and read bed-time stories to his future Spartan program.
War's face was red with anger. He could hardly muster words to say to such reckless, pointless actions.
Nine was smiling, happy to drive War's rage.
"You should relax. Too much anger's bad for the blood pressure, Wally."
"DON'T CALL ME WALLY, YOU INSUFFERABLE CRETIN."
War took a moment to compose himself to no avail. His index finger thumped the table.
Ten soldiers downed. Two with concussions, and three had their firearms damaged beyond repair.
And punishing Nine in any way would only bring War trouble. He had to let it all go.
"...John, you are so...INTENSELY stupid. Just leave." War put his face in his palm. "...You sicken me."
Nine smiled, raised his hand, and offered it to War to shake. "See you later!"
War did not shake his hand.
Nine swung his arm and smacked a bottle of whiskey off of the table.
War gritted his teeth, and stood, pointing to the door and barking one word into Nine's face.
"OUT!!!"
Nine turned and sauntered out of the room. "Next time just fuckin' shake my hand then."
One week later.
Selena kept her binoculars trained on the Freelancer Base. As one of the many annoyances of her life, she was assigned to keep an eye on Agent Nine.
The children were holding out hope that he would return. War didn't seem to want that.
But Selena saw no intent to storm the Legion's facility.
Nine was simply sitting on a bench, with his young daughter on his knee, reading her a story.
"...What a weird guy." Selena yawned, and had a swig of water.
