District 42-Chapter 242: Bribery
That photo remained in Casper’s sight for some seconds as if he was trying to find out whether it was real or not. His mind couldn’t accept that such inconvenience was happening.
He looked to Rat, frowning hard. His breath was unsteady due to the wrath and it made a strange sound since he was wearing his black mask.
’Keep calm. You don’t have any clue that it is true, we need to spot her first, then we will see what happens.’ Casper took a deep breath, forcing his face to relax for a bit. He wasn’t going to put everything at stake there because of anxiety.
"Ivar... Look through the window. See if you can spot the Princess out there." He spoke with a stiff tone of voice.
The Aesir looked at the broken window behind him, squinting his eyes. He seemed to spot something that made his body shiver for a while. He turned back to Casper, nodding his head. That smile was still there, no one could see the despair in his eyes, and that was what made Ivar seem more frightening.
Anyway, smiling or not, what he saw was a matter of fact. Vick was still stuck on that floor and Rat knew that it could happen.
Canute and Ari went pale as they stepped closer to Rat, killing intent could be felt emanating from them. If they snapped, Rat wouldn’t be captured, he would be gone in seconds. They were the personal Aesirs serving Vick, thus they had a good relationship with her. If her life was threatened like that, no wonder they would be so angry.
Leonel and Susie could spot Vick as well. However, they weren’t going in Rat’s direction, but want to walk off and jump from that office. They knew it was better to go save her instead of keep in there giving attention to that crazy man.
Eva was aware of their mission and from far away she knew exactly that something was off. Because of the reactions of the two Aesirs, it was easy for her to guess what they were going to do, so she switched the aim of her sniper.
Canute noticed the laser pointing to him, biting his lip with frustration. Ari also took that as a signal. If he moved, his friend would pay the bill.
"Tsc, those Sgails are a bunch of bastards," Canute commented, clenching his fists.
Ivar was just standing there, completely immobile, but his eyes were moving to all sides. He was analyzing the situation to see what would be better for him to do.
"Pshh! All of you kids! Stay. On. The. Same. Place!" Rat said, changing his tone of voice for one more acute that seemed to pierce their ears.
"If you move, the Princess die! I am not kidding. Really. It’s not time for play around, is it? I don’t think so! That’s why Rat is talking reeally seriously. Look, look! Do you see that Vick is standing still?" He pointed with his finger to her.
The Princess, indeed, was just standing on the street, her head lowered. From far away, it was hard to grasp how her body was reacting, her expression, and everything else. They couldn’t know her state of mind, but being paralyzed was strange enough to know that something was off.
"Well, she is standing there like this because she was told the same. Move and you die. Simple, isn’t it?"
The sarcastic tone of Rat’s voice was noticeable.
"I don’t believe in you. Even if we kill you, they couldn’t know that. And Ivar there is faster than a bullet, he can catch the Princess before you do anything!" Leonel shouted.
"Ah? Do you think so? But that’s not the case." He showed a watch for them. It was bigger than a normal watch and instead of the hours, its widescreen showed... heartbeats and brain activity.
"I can see each one of my little mice’s conditions with this thing here, and they can see mine’s. If I die, they will know, and kill her. Also, if you don’t kill me and just try to capture, I will send a signal to them with the watch, anyway. You don’t have an option instead to stand still and hear me!"
They gulped. Everyone there recognized that they were in a pinch.
"Throw your weapons." He ordered, simply.
Leonel was the first one to do it. Susie and Casper followed him, and so was Ivar. Ari and Canute were the last ones. The laser pointing to them soon disappeared as well. Eva could read the atmosphere and knew that she needed to let her gun aside as well.
Rat moved freely through the office, picking the guns that were on the floor and throwing them out of the building as if he was a kid playing with his toys.
He had fun particularly with Susie’s knives, which were more numerous.
"That was satisfying! Fun, even! But, you know, I also get grumpy sometimes! You know what gets me grumpy!?"
They still had their heads lowered and no sound could be heard from their mouths.
Rat turned suddenly to Canute and slammed him on the face with a powerful kick. The Aesir was strong and took several blows on his life, but someone as skillful as that criminal and using an exoskeleton, in addition, was enough to send him to the floor.
That single kick was well-aimed, enough to all its power be directed to the right point. That was the first time that Casper saw a mask cracking as blood spilled through its gaps.
"What gets me grumpy are people who don’t stay on the ground and DIE when I WANT!" He stomped his foot on Canute’s face, and yet once again.
The White warrior, seeing that scene, was biting his lip so hard that it was starting to bleed. His nails were hurting the palm of his hands, such was the strength he was clenching his fists.
He wasn’t the only one. All of them, except Ivar, were in the same state of mind, particularly Ari, who couldn’t even look to his friend being beaten.
"AND! There is one more THING! THAT! I want to SAY!" While talking, he sent other kicks to Canute’s belly, finishing in the last word of the sentence.
He walked off, letting the man on the ground agonizing.
"What gets me even more grumpy are people struggling so much every day, trying to fool with my plans and that obliges me to go against the superiors’ orders. What gives me chills are these blind people acting in favor of these shitty Jarls that keep trying to steal our freedom! And it is disgusting to see dogs of the government trying to mess with me!"
The next target was Leonel. He received a punch on his solar plexus, making him retreat several steps. He got on the edge of the office, which didn’t have windows on it anymore.
Leonel lost his balance and fell, but held the edge of the floor with one of his hands. If he lost his grip on that edge and fell from there, he would die for sure. There were no other chances.
The only thing on his reach was the Drakkar they parked floating beside the floor, but he was not sure if he could land on top of it. It was a gamble.
The Sgail leader looked up, with despair increasing in his eyes, holding on that edge as firmly as he could.
Casper and Susie were the first ones to move towards Leonel. However, Rat raised his right arm, showing the watch in his hand without even looking at them.
"I said to not move, didn’t I? I am still talking!" He stepped on Leonel’s hand.
Those two needed to stop their rush and just look at that scene and hearing their leader screaming in pain as his fingers were being smashed by that person.
’This freaking bastard!’ Casper needed to bit his tongue to not let anything slip out of it.
Instinctively, he brought his hand to his waist, but there wasn’t any gun there anymore. The White warrior didn’t know what to do. The only option left for him and the others was to keep watching what was happening and bear it.
As Leonel’s screams got louder, all the people inside the office got more and more disturbed. Inside, they were screaming in pain.
Ivar was calm as per usual, the grin wasn’t there anymore, but he was still at ease. It was not like the man grinned every time, but just in situations where the action was near.
"Damn! You are stubborn, huh?" Rat took his foot off from Leonel’s hand, in which the fingers were completely worn out, but he didn’t lose his grip no matter what.
"Ok! I am better now. My good mood returned! I am not willing to kill anyone here and now, anyway. However, I will let you all with the choice. I will run, so you can chase me if you want, or you can go save the Princess before she dies. Hehe, so... which one will be?"
