Such as now when the agent reported to his boss that he had to go get his daughter out of trouble at school, and didn't actually go to that school.
So they tracked him, where he went out of town to a payphone sitting in the middle of nowhere. Not Nowhere Arizona the town, this was where a pair of dirt roads intersected in the middle of a desert. As Hydra Agent Bilco (Level Two) watched with binoculars, a tumbleweed actually went past the phone.
Hydra Agent Bilco watched as the SHIELD Agent answered the phone, seemed to speak for a few minutes, and then hung up and drove off again.
The car was followed, pulling up at a gas station in Bisbee. After refueling, the car drove off. He then went to a Krispy Kreme and picked up a dozen glazed donuts.
"Confirmed, Coulson is in the area," said Bilco on the phone to his superior.
Then, because Ernest Bilco was not averse to being on more than one payroll, he left messages for contacts with the Army in Talbot's office and one for a contact in the FBI.
That he would then be able to report on the resulting debacle as agencies tripped over each other's feet - that was entirely planned.
"So..." began Naruto, finally turning his attention from the speed they were doing in this wheeled box. On a dirt road, it hadn't been impressive. Once on this paved stuff though - it had picked up quite a bit.
"So?" asked the rough-looking guy.
"Why 'hound'?" asked Naruto.
The guy moved one sleeve up while driving. A tattoo the size of a teacup had a dog's head design. "This. Zodiac Mark. There's thirteen of us. No idea who or how or even why. Well, I've got an idea or two on the 'why' but no evidence to back it up."
"Okay, why?" asked Naruto.
"We get anywhere near each other, we go berserk. Even if we communicate by e-mail and through video - if we physically get near each other - we end up trying to kill each other. I was communicating with Ram when SHIELD tried to set up a meeting. Once we got within maybe a couple of miles it was like I shut down. So did she. We ended up fighting until agents shot us both full of trank-darts and tased the hell out of us."
Naruto didn't know a lot of words in there but got the basic message. "I don't get it."
"The 'why' might be that we're supposed to fight. One of those 'Highlander' kind of things with one last Mark standing." Hound paused as he checked around before passing a truck. Once back in the original lane he continued. "Cat deliberately fought Tiger and got her butt kicked. Badly. Wasn't even a contest. After the fight, nothing had changed. Maybe Tiger was supposed to kill Cat, which didn't happen because Tiger launched her over a bridge. She survived but was laid up for six months. Still, she was pretty thoroughly defeated so if this WAS a 'last man standing' scenario - you'd have expected the Mark to fade or something."
"Huh," said Naruto, pointing. "What's that?"
"Stark Industries solar plant," said Hound. "Bought up a bunch of desert. We only get two rainy seasons so it's a good location for solar. Not much past it is Palo Verde. Nuclear. Hear Stark has stuff that outdates it but it still puts out a good amount of power to three states."
"I don't understand a lot of that," said Naruto. "So that gal said you got a place for me to train and hide out from bad guys?"
"Yeah," said Hound.
"None of these other Zodiac guys around?" asked Naruto, suddenly nervous about being in a vehicle going this fast that was piloted by a guy who could go into a berserk rage.
"Not likely," said Hound. "Cat and Tiger are in South America. Ram is usually in New Zealand. Dragon and Snake are in China, Singapore and Hong Kong. Rat is in London. Rabbit is in Japan, Horse in Korea, and Monkey is Australian. Pig hardly ever moves from Paris and Ox hasn't been heard from for awhile. Last I heard she was still in Romania."
"Those are all fairly far apart?" asked Naruto. When the other nodded he settled back down.
"Also against the fight-club scenario - none of us are all that geared to fighting," said Hound. "I'm mainly a tracker. Cat has nightvision and flexibility. Tiger's big and strong but mainly has the talent of fading into the background - which doesn't help if you've just gone berserk. Ram's talent is some form of sticking to things - she can walk up walls and such. Dragon can predict weather and breathe water. Which might be handy but he's some kind of office worker. Snake doesn't know what her ability is but is betting it's lame. Really betting. Something like five hundred bucks on it with Dragon, through a third party. Rat has the ability to eat darn near anything and not get sick. Used to have food allergies - but not since the Mark. Rabbit seems to be able to short-range teleport, usually when she's tripping over her own feet so completely uncontrolled. Horse can run fast, about a quarter of the speed we're going now. Monkey can fix nearly any machine he's touching. Pig can eat lots of food and not gain weight. Guy always looks like he's starving. Ox said she was superstrong, but the most she could lift was maybe three hundred pounds."
"Is that good?" asked Naruto.
"More than I can lift," admitted Hound. "And there's where we're going."
"I don't see anything," said Naruto after looking.
"That's the idea kid," said Hound.
Sneaking off the airship was easy. He was not a stealth specialist - he was more an "overwhelming assault" type when he had a problem to deal with. That didn't mean he couldn't DO stealth.
Sneak off the airship, though he did take a good long look after getting in between a couple of buildings.
Then it was off through the warren of buildings in an unfamiliar town. Sasuke Uchiha had had time to figure out what he needed while trying to figure out where the Worthless Duo (Naruto and Sakura) had deposited him.
A smoky smell and layer of haze, old brick buildings - some of radically different styles than their neighbors. Streets were a maze of dead ends and narrow alleys. Which suited him mostly just fine.
In a warehouse he listened carefully and noted the different language. After a time, the workers left - never noticing the figure in the rafters overhead.
That gave him access to water, materials for a shelter, and a base of operations in the form of a nook created when an old building had been destroyed and a new building put up that didn't quite match the neighbor.
Now he could get some materials and try to learn the local language.
Tabitha saw the whole thing. Louise looked every which way but up, where a dragon was perched on a castle wall.
The pink-haired girl came out after Louise made a gesture.
The girl started pointing a wand, obviously trying to use a spell. Also obviously, she got results. Water fountained up from one of her jabbings.
So. Guiche was right. Most likely the girl was of Valliere heritage, born "on the wrong side of the sheets" as was the current phrase to indicate an illegitimate offspring. Though frankly she doubted that ANYONE would cheat on Karin "the Heavy Wind" - so possibly one or two steps removed from the current family. A disgraced relative's offspring? Such things happened after all.
"I did it," breathed Sakura, clutching her newly acquired wand in one hand.
"She did it," breathed Louise. Her familiar could use wand magic and her element was apparently water.
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(Posted Tue, 19 May 2015 17:12)
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