Oct-19
2007

Proteus - Chapter 1 Draft

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J had them spotted though his scopes. They were notoriously easy to track down. In the silent morning in these quiet woods, the two made so much noise a deaf man would cover his ears in pain. Both Gaston and Haynes were wide in the open, beside a stream. Somewhat disappointed, J decided to waste no time. He fired 3 shots in quick succession at the taller of the two men (presumably Gaston). His rifle kicked back into his shoulders, but his expert hand kept the shots true.
To his surprise, the man still stood upright in his scope. In fact, he seemed completely unharmed. He also seemed completely ticked off. He turned and looked directly and where J was hiding. J being a decisive man, immediately figured that his projectile weapons weren't going to do the job. He was going to have to take it into his own hands. J was moving before Gaston got off a shot.
J circled quickly in the brush when it registered with him. First shot? They didn't have any weapons. The flashing of J’s cloths through the brush caught Gaston’s senses. Gaston sure was an aware little bugger; J moved more silent than any man could. Few could track him in the brush, but Gaston seemed to be having little difficulty. Gaston fired off another shot. J noted that he fired a plasma type energy blast from his hand. Peculiar. But not anything he could not handle. J stopped in his tracks. The moving air behind his body continued to travel though, making it seem as if he had continued to run in that direction. It was a trick he often used. A trick Gaston fell for also. He lost track of J again in the woods. Haynes, beside Gaston did not seem to be concious. He layed sprawled beside a stream. It seemed that Gaston had brought them there for sustenance. J decided that this was his chance. Gaston knew J was out there; but not who he was and not where he was.
This was just such an occasion that J brought his sword for. It was a specially crafted sword; it had the sharpness of a Japanese katana, the good handling of a Chinese straight sword, and was combined with the strength and power of a European sword. His baby.
He lunged silently into the open, unsheathing his sword - covering the distance of 30 feet in a second and a half. However, it wasn't quite fast enough. Gaston heard him 10 feet away and in a blur of motion let loose with a succession of hammering blasts. When the smoke cleared J lay sprawled, motionless, 10 feet away from Gaston.
Gaston laughed. Who was this pathetic weakling who dared to consider the thought of opposing him? It had hardly taken any energy or effort to dispose of the little man. Is this the best they could do? Surely the road ahead must not be too hard then. Unfortunately, Gaston thought, 'the other' was still unconcious. It was alive most definitely, but it – or more accurately, he - could not be awakened. Oh wait, he was beginning to stir. Excellent Gaston thought, my job is done. He took one more long drag from the stream and continued trekking forward into the forest.
Haynes sat up disoriented. Where was he? He barely remembered the break out. He had been semi-conscious then. He was in the forest evidently, because he was surrounded by trees and sat by a small brook. He then thought of a more important question. Who was he? Haynes did not know. He remembered that his name was Haynes. But that seemed to be all. It was then that he noticed a charred body laying somewhat close to him. He also noticed that the body had begun to stir.
J was down but he certainly was not dead. He had not expected Gaston of having that kind of power. He wouldn't make that mistake a second time. Within a couple of seconds J was strong enough to rise. He could feel his body returning to full strength as he stood. He unconsciously flexed as his skin began to instantly heal. No more mister nice guy.
Where had Gaston gone? Well, it wouldn’t matter, J could track him easily. ‘Perhaps I should take care of Haynes first’, J thought, because it seemed that Haynes had woken up.
Haynes stood up and saw the man do so also. ‘Amazing!’ Haynes though. The man's burns who stood before him seemed to be healing before his eyes. Haynes spoke up, "Excuse me! Who are you? Do you know where we are?" The man straightened and turned to look at him. His eyes glinted underneath his furrowed eyebrows. Before Haynes knew what was happening, J was upon him with a flurry of fists too fast for the eye to see. A hammer blow sent Haynes across the woods and into a large oak tree 20 feet away. Dazed and frightened Haynes gathered himself. Haynes didn't seem to be injured, but the man seemed to be coming in for a second round. Anger started to boil up within Haynes. What had he done? What crime had he committed?
Haynes hesitated a little too long. Though Haynes managed to counter some of the blows (he didn't know how since he didn't remember learning hand to hand combat), J landed more than Haynes cared to count. A double fisted blow to the stomach again launched Haynes across the glade. Breaking through a couple of trees Haynes came to a stop. He was hurting this time. But J was not letting him catch his breath; J was across the opening in an eye blink ready to land some finishing blows into Haynes.
Haynes fist slammed into J's abdomen before J was across the glade. J flew, eyes open in disbelief, back across the glade, digging a small trench into the ground where he landed. Haynes stood eyes blazing. It had been a devastating punch - delivered more from instinct than conscious thought. J got up, eyes blazing. He walked slowly toward Haynes; and Haynes waited for him. They stood about 5 feet from one another. J could tell Haynes was ready. It didn't matter - he was itching for a good fight anyhow.
They both went at it at the same instant. The blows were too fast to follow - and they got faster. However, neither one was landing a hit on the other. They were either countered or dodged. J started to break out in a sweat - he was close to 100% speed while fighting and the guy was keeping up right along with him! J had never fought anyone at this speed. The reason however had nothing to do with fear; the fact was that no one was fast enough for J! The thought of finding an equal did not sit well with J.
The opportunity blazed in front of him - J saw an opening and landed a blow to Haynes' face. However, Haynes recovered almost instantaneously, landing a hammer blow to J's chest. J was launched back a couple of yards but landed on his feet unharmed. He looked up just in time to see Haynes' face glow with anger - and pain? - and J heard Haynes unleash an unearthly yell that shook the forest. J had enough time to pull his trench coat around him before the shockwave knocked him of his feet and into unconsciousness.
When he woke up - it couldn't have been more than a minute or two later - Haynes and Gaston were gone. It seemed that Haynes had generated some sort of energy blast that had radiated from him on all sides - because the forest within a radius of 10 yards around where Haynes had been standing was burned to a crisp. J however was not that easy to kill. This was his first mission he had failed on the first attempt. But no matter. He would finish up the job. J was gone into the woods in a blur, back on the trail of the two fugitives. The woods - slightly smoking now - were once again silent. 

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