Mega 3: When Giants Collide (Mega Series) (3 page)

***

“Left side!” Max shouted. “Right side! Duck! Duck! Yeah! Oh that has to hurt! What?”

Darby rolled to the side just as a foot came down where she’d just been. She sent a quick jab into the man’s calf, right into a nerve cluster that sent the huge man to the ground. Without missing a second, she slammed her fist into the man’s temple then rolled herself backwards to her feet.

“Stop distracting me, Maxwell,” Darby said.

“My bad,” Max said as he took the joint from his ear and put it to his lips. “Behind you.”

Darby roundhouse kicked the man coming for her in the balls. He squealed then collapsed onto his knees while his hands gripped his crotch. Instead of punching him herself, she stepped to the side and let the man behind her do it as the fist that was meant for the back of her head went flying by.

“Oh, shit, bra,” the man said to his friend he’d just punched. He started to say more, but Darby sent a high kick into his throat. He fell to his knees, his hands around his neck as he struggled to breathe through his crushed windpipe.

Two more men rushed her, but she easily avoided their massive bulk and sent one down with three hard shots to his left kidney, and then sent the other one down by stomping on the back of his right foot, snapping his Achilles’ tendon in half.

Men, huge men, used to cracking open coconuts with their bare hands, lay on the ground in various forms of agony. Some cried out for help as they clutched broken limbs, while others just moaned and rocked themselves, gripped by a crushing disbelief that they were taken down by a woman and now lying in their own piss and blood.

“Last one, sexy killer,” Max said as he pointed to the mountain of a man that started it all. “You gonna beat that apology out of him or has he had enough?”

The mountain man, Levi, lay on the ground, his hands protecting the shattered remains of his kneecaps. He looked up at Darby with pain and fear filled eyes as she stood over him.

“Sorry, lady,” Levi said. “I’m so fucking sorry. I shouldn’t have hassled you.”

“Or my boyfriend,” Darby said.

“Right, or your boyfriend,” Levi agreed. “I was being rude.”

“Dang skippy,” Max said as he stood up and walked over by Darby. “Now, let this be a lesson to you, young man. You don’t say bad things to people you don’t know because sometimes they are highly trained killing machines that have an OCD need to beat the shit out of rude fucks like you. Understood?”

“Yeah, bra,” Levi nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks, “understood.”

An open top Jeep without a roll cage came skidding to a stop in the gravel and sand a few feet from the aftermath of the fight.

“Hey, it’s Shane,” Max said as he waved. “Dude! You totally missed it! Darby like fucking crushed these assholes!”

“Those assholes are my family, you stupid…” Linny yelled then stopped as she saw the state her brothers and cousins were in. “Oka… what did you do?”

Max looked from Linny to the broken men that lay in the sand outside the bar.

“Oh, shit,” he said. “Family?”

“Family, dude,” Shane responded, “brothers and cousins.”

“Oh...huh,” Max nodded then looked at Linny. “Hey, totally sorry about this. That one there said some shitty things to Darby and then it all went downhill pretty fast.”

“You did all this?” Linny asked Darby.

“All he needed to do was apologize,” Darby said as she looked up at the woman that was nearly a foot taller than she was. “I gave them more than a few chances.”

“She did,” Max nodded. “I gave them chances too. They just kept being dicks.”

“Oh, I’m sure you did everything in your power to diffuse the situation,” Shane scowled.

“
Diffuse the situation
?
” Max asked. “What strange words you say, brother. Methinks the Samoan woman has you under her witchcraft.”

“You’re the last one to talk about being under a woman’s witchcraft,” Shane said.

“Ain’t gonna argue with you there, dude,” Max smiled as he took a hit from his joint and handed it to Shane.

Despite the carnage before him, Shane didn’t hesitate to take the joint and suck it all the way down.

“Thanks,” Shane said as he dropped the roach and crushed it under his flip flop. “Now, how the fuck are you going to make this right?”

“Me?” Max asked.

“You and Darby,” Shane said. “Look at them. This island only has around 200 people on it and you just broke like half of them.”

“There are only six there,” Darby said, “and they’ll heal.”

“How?” Linny snapped. “This is Olosega, not Ofu. There’s no clinic on this island, and the one across the straight is total shit. They are going to have to be taken to Faleasao or even to Pago Pago to get the care they need. You have any idea how much that is going to cost?”

Linny threw up her hands and turned in a circle.

“Why does this shit happen to me?” she yelled. “Why do I get mixed up with these assholes?”

“Lin, come on,” Shane said, “we’ll make it right.”

“Why?” Darby asked. “They started it and I finished it. They should know better than to pick fights they can’t win.”

“Look at you!” Linny shouted. “What man thinks he can’t beat you in a fight?”

Shane and Max both raised their hands.

“That’s because you know what she can do!” Linny yelled.

“Now they know what I can do,” Darby said. She took a deep breath then let it out. “You are upset because you have to take care of them. I understand and for that I’m sorry. No woman should have to take care of assholes like these. They were the ones that thought insulting a woman and her boyfriend, who were just enjoying the sun and some drinks, was a fun way to spend the afternoon. You should thank me for teaching them a valuable lesson in caution.”

“Are you for real?” Linny growled then looked at Shane. “Is she for real?”

Before Shane could respond, Ballantine and Thorne came up a trail from the small cliff that overlooked the beach below.

“Well, someone’s been busy,” Ballantine said as he looked directly at Darby.

“Boys,” Thorne sighed, “what the fuck have you two done now?”

“Us?” Shane asked, looking shocked.

“I didn’t touch them, Uncle Vinny,” Max said.

“Obviously not,” Ballantine nodded. “I’d know Darby’s handy work anywhere.” he saw the stricken look on Linny’s face. “I assume you know these gentlemen, what with it being such a small island.”

“They’re her family,” Shane said. “Brothers and cousins.”

“Employed or unemployed?” Ballantine asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of 100 dollar bills.

“Excuse me?” Linny asked.

Ballantine started to pull bills from the roll. “Are they employed or unemployed?”

“They work for me,” Linny said, “in the family business.” She turned and glared at Shane. “Harvest is about to start.”

“So employed then,” Ballantine said as he looked at the roll and just handed it over. “This will cover their medical expenses and any temp labor you need to hire for your crops, Ms. Taaloga. My apologies for the inconvenience.”

“How do you know my name?” Linny asked.

“This is my boss,” Shane said. “He makes a point of knowing everyone’s name.”

“Yes, I do,” Ballantine said. “I was hoping to be able to get to know more about all of you, as I do love this little island of yours, but unfortunately, we must leave immediately.”

“Whoa! You said we’d have a couple weeks to rest up,” Shane said, looking at Linny. “We can trust her, she isn’t going to rat out our location to anyone. That’s why I suggested this place.”

“No, I don’t think she will rat us out, even with the current circumstances,” Ballantine said, “but that doesn’t matter. We have to go.”

“We have a mission?” Max asked.

“That’s need to know,” Thorne said, “and right now all you need to know is that your ass needs to be back on the B3 in two seconds.”

“Uncle Vinny, come on, man,” Shane said. “We have been running for months. We haven’t stopped working. We’ve killed everything we’ve been sent after. What the fuck is left in this ocean?”

“Plenty,” Ballantine said. “More than you want to know, actually, but all of that is inconsequential. Our priority at the moment is to get back to the Beowulf III and get out into international waters as soon as possible.”

The brothers stared at Ballantine then turned to their uncle. Thorne’s face was completely blank as he refused to give even the slightest hint away of what was happening.

“Fine,” Shane said as he looked at Linny. “I guess this is goodbye. I really am sorry for what happened.”

He moved in for a kiss, but Linny took a couple steps back and turned her head.

“Yeah, great,” he said as he glared at his brother. “Come on. The Zodiac is down this way. I’ll drive.”

“Where are we going?” Lucy asked as she stumbled out into the sunlight, her bikini top and shorts coated in vomit. “There a beach party? I love beach parties.”

She stopped halfway and hunched over, and then proceeded to empty the contents of her stomach in such a violent way that her head jerked and slammed into the ground, knocking her out cold.

“You get to carry her,” Shane said as he walked past his brother and pointed at Lucy. “Maybe your girlfriend will help.”

“Yeah, we got it,” Max said.

Darby didn’t argue as she grabbed Lucy’s legs while Max grabbed Lucy’s shoulders. They followed Shane to a different trail than the one Ballantine and Thorne had come up. In seconds, they were lost from sight as they made their way down to the beach and the Zodiac raft waiting to take them back out to the Beowulf III.

“Again, my apologies,” Ballantine said to Linny. “I hope they have a speedy recovery. At least know that it looks like she took it easy on them.”

Linny just stood there as Ballantine gave her a wide smile and followed the brothers and Darby down to the beach.

“What?” Linny snapped as Thorne stood there watching her.

“I know you used to be a SEAL,” Thorne said. “Shane told me all about that asshole. You seem tough and obviously know how to be in charge.”

“Yeah, so?” she grumbled.

“Normally those qualities are good things,” Thorne said, “but when we leave you need to forget about being tough and in charge. If anyone comes here looking for us, you hide. Just hide, and if you can’t hide, then you tell them everything you know. Do not try to lie for Shane, got it? You tell them everything and hopefully they’ll believe you and go away.”

“I don’t fucking know anything,” Linny said. “Shane didn’t tell me shit.”

“I think he probably did,” Thorne said as he pointed at her skirt. “That’s on backwards, by the way.”

She looked down and closed her eyes. “Mother fucker.”

“Remember what I said,” Thorne said one last time as he walked away. “Hide or be honest. Don’t fight.”

Linny looked up as Thorne stepped onto the trail. “Who’s coming after you?”

“Bad people,” Thorne said. “Very bad people. It’s probably best you take that cash Ballantine gave you and get your people out of here. That’ll be safer than hiding or being honest. Best just not to be around.”

Thorne gave her a sad smile then was lost from sight as he descended the trail.

Linny looked down at the roll of 100s in her hand.

“Yeah, I think getting the fuck out of here is better,” she said. Then she looked at the huge men that lay on the ground. “Great. How the fuck am I supposed to get you assholes to the fucking hospital?”

***

Boatswain Trevor “Popeye” De Bruhl cut the motor to the lift and shook his head as he looked at Lucy lying in the bottom of the Zodiac.

“What the hell happened to her?” Popeye asked as he waved his hand in front of his nose. Short, thin, bald, with massive forearms that were covered in tattoos. De Bruhl even had a one eyed squint like the cartoon Popeye. The main difference between the man and the cartoon character was that the flesh and blood Popeye was missing his right leg and in its place was a segmented, titanium prosthetic with a splayed piece of heavy duty rubber at the bottom. “She got food poisoning or something?”

“Something like that,” Max said as he and Darby lifted Lucy out of the Zodiac while Popeye kept it steady. “Where’s Gun? He’s going to need to pump her stomach and put some fluids in her. Pretty sure she has alcohol poisoning.”

“Lightweight,” Popeye said.

“Can you have Captain Lake draw anchor and ready the ship?” Ballantine asked Popeye as he stepped onto the deck. “We will need to leave these waters ASAP.”

“Sure thing, bossman,” Popeye said. “You gonna need to call a meeting? That’s your gonna need to call a meeting voice.”

“Do I have a gonna need to call a meeting voice?” Ballantine asked.

“Yeah, you do,” Shane said as he stepped around Ballantine and headed up to the observation deck. “Sounds just like your constipated voice.”

“Stow it, Reynolds,” Thorne said.