Chereads / Jezebel / Chapter 7 - A Tango in Tamarind Part 2

Chapter 7 - A Tango in Tamarind Part 2

Jezebel and Jean strolled into La Tansika. Warm classy lights bathed them as they entered the fancy atmosphere. A well-dressed attendant came up to them and asked if they had a reservation.

"Yes, I do. I believe it should be with a Jon Clarancy?" Jean replied.

"Yep, we have you on the list! Right, this way miss."

The attendant led them to a table with a lone man. He was decently tall, around 6"2' if Jezebel was to venture a guess. He was in a formal suit, nothing fancy.

"Ah, Jean! So nice to see you! Come, come, sit down! I heard you have something for me?"

"Er... yes I do. But, let us eat first, shall we? I am quite famished. Especially after the day, that I have had."

"I suppose we shall. How about your bodyguard, what shall he be doing?"

"He can just sit down at that table over there. It's free for right now. We can just come up with a reason why he's over there if they ask."

Jon motioned toward a nearby table.

"Yes, I suppose he can."

"Good, now let's order shall we?"

Jezebel sat down at the nearby table and looked around. The fancy atmosphere weighed heavily on his less than fancy upbringing. As Jean and Jon ordered their food, he sat alone with a glass of water. That is until a nearby attendant noticed him.

"Hey there sir, why are you sitting alone?" she asked.

"Ah, I'm just waiting for my employer to finish her dinner, so we can get out of here."

"Sounds like fun, need anything? Don't worry, it's on the house."

"Yeah actually, I would haha. Something to drink, maybe just some water? If you have any soda or something that would also work, but I have some doubts with this fancy atmosphere ha-ha."

"Ah never fear, we actually do have soda. Anything specific you want?"

"Just some cola. I don't need much else."

"No problem! I'll get it for ya. Us workers are under-appreciated."

The attendant left Jezebel at the table waiting. A few minutes later, she brought his drink by and left him alone again.

Some more time passed, Jon and Jean finally got their food.

"So, miss Jean. What do you have for me? I know you have something, but what is it?"

"Ah, that. Yes... I have blueprints for a new ship-mounted weapon. The Hyperspace Gattling Gun."

"W-what!"

Jon began to choke on the sip of water he'd just taking, he'd entered a coughing fit.

"You actually have that? Jean! You are a fucking genius! God damn if you weren't a princess or under the age of 18 I'd kiss you!"

"That's... a bit odd Jon."

"Ahem, excuse my outburst there. Just erm... disregard that"

"Sure."

"Alright."

The both of them looked away from each other, in a stifled and awkward atmosphere. They couldn't bring themselves to talk again, so they sat in silence until their food arrived. It was then, Jean successfully attempted to initiate another conversation.

"So, do you want the plans for the Hyperspace Gattling Gun?"

"Erm, yes. It will be very useful for the empire, those pirates don't stand a chance against compressed hyperspace. Can't wait to show em what for!"

"Yes, well do not get entirely too excited, we have yet to exchange them."

"Of course! Do you want to do it right now?"

"Sure, let me just pull them up here on my PSD."

Jean tapped on her gold bracelet and brought up a holographic interface. She went to the file downloaded and began to pick a target for transfer. As she scrolled through the list, La Tansika lost power. It was pitch black. People began to scream slightly, in sudden shock.

"Ah crap, there goes the power." a woman's voice said loudly.

"It's alright everyone, we've been having this a lot recently. No need to panic, it should resolve itself shortly," she added.

The masses began to calm down. But then, the windows shattered. The lights came back on, and tens of people who rappelled from the roof could be seen entering the building. They all looked roughly the same, in green tiger painted armor, each with a rifle of some sorts. They all looked at each other, then, a final man rappelled down.

"Alright, y'all best stop screaming. We are only here to take ya valuables, then get out of here. Nothin' else. Now, all y'all best lay down on the ground!"

Everybody in the restaurant complied, Jezebel looked toward Jean, she was laid face down on the floor. He pulled up his PSD and texted a message to her.

'Hey m'lady? Are you good? Don't worry, if push comes to shove I shall get you out of here.'

Jean's PSD vibrated on her wrist, alerting her to the message. She checked it, then replied.

'Yes, I am fine. Do not worry about me, robberies occur all the time. As long as they don't learn of my identity, we are safe.'

The men swarmed the restaurant, taking jewelry, bags, and other valuables. They swept toward Jean and took a cursory glance.  One of the men pulled up a picture on his PSD, then looked back at her.

"Yeah, this is the one those two girls want. Let's get her." he pointed at Jean.

Three men surrounded Jean and picked her up. She fought, tossed kicks and threw punches. The men had to tranquilize her to get her still. Jon attempted to fight the men but was swiftly knocked out with a quick boot to the face.

Jezebel was enraged and quickly drew his service pistol. He fired a quick burst at the group, hitting one man straight through. He dropped, and the two men looked back in horror.

"F-f-fuck! Man down! Someone's fighting back, we need help!" one of the men shouted.

The man who carried Jean began to run back towards the windows. Jezebel let off two more bursts, hitting the two men. They careened into the floor, as Jean fell onto the ground.  14 men began to rush over to the shots and fired at Jezebel. He was enraged further. In his mind, something finally clicked.

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGH!!!!!!" Jezebel screamed.

His vision went red, and his body near quadrupled in size. The men who were running toward him quickly thought over their error. But it was too late, Jezebel had dropped his weapon, and almost instantaneously moved toward the men. His hand extended, he grabbed onto a nearby head. A sickening sound was heard as he crushed it. He dashed forward, grabbing two men and slamming them into the ground with gory results.  The rest of the people began shooting at him, but the bullets just bounced off.

He let out another scream, as he tore through the remaining men at an astonishing rate. The captain of the group, who had announced their plans to rob, arrived.

"Ah, looks like we have ourselves a lively one don't we? No matter, I'll just quickly put him to sleep."

Jezebel began to rush towards the man but was quickly stopped in his tracks. The man had extended his hand toward him and picked him up with some sort of invisible force.  Under his breath, the man whispered [Skrodash!] and Jezebel fell to the ground, into a deep slumber.

The captain decided to let him be and grabbed Jean.

"Come on boys, we're leaving! We got what we need, take back to bodies so we can give them a proper burial eh?"

The men left, and Jezebel was on the ground, still heavily muscled, his breathing began to slow, and nothing was heard from him. But on the inside,

[Now initiating Host Repair procedure... ... ... ...]

[Host Repair Successful (2/3 time remaining.)]

[Now awakening Host.]