METROCITY
Outskirts
Countessa had nothing left. Her strength was completely gone. She was bloody and broken. Every breath caused a stabbing pain in her chest. She knelt there in the middle of the ring next to the fallen creature, knowing that she was going to die. The COIL agents trained their weapons on her and prepared to open the cage.
“All that precious, precious blood of yours. We will have years to play with it. To perfect our own army of COIL super-agents. It was worth-”
Suddenly an explosion splintered two of the exterior doors. Through the smoke Countessa could make out a squadron of soldiers breaching the warehouse. She was only vaguely aware of the laser sights and barrel flashes around her. The sound of gunfire was only a faint echo as she struggled to stay conscious. COIL agents scattered, retaliated, but were ultimately gunned down by the soldiers.
Countessa saw the lead COIL agent at the edge of the action, sprinting towards a side exit. Countessa intended to jump to her feet and stop her from escaping but instead just fell sideways. As the German woman was about to open the door it broke inwards as a massive silhouette stepped through. The COIL leader fired her handgun at the figure until her clip emptied. Through the haze of her concussed thoughts, Countessa heard a familiar Russian voice, “Nine millimeter? It tickles.”
Ursa Mega grabbed the COIL leader by the throat, lifted her a meter off the floor, then slammed the back of her head against the concrete floor. “Classic chokeslam” thought Countessa groggily and actually smiled.
The action was over in a few minutes. Spetsnaz forces secured the warehouse. Ursa Mega strode into the center of the warehouse as one of the Russian operatives stood at attention, “All enemies have been neutralized.”
“Good work, Keptin.” she said. “Burn everything.” Ursa Mega forced open the gate on the cage and went down on one knee next to Countessa. Her voice was soft as she looked down at Countessa. “You fight this thing? You must be stronger than you look.” She held a hand out and Countessa squeezed it hard. Natalya helped her to her feet. “But then, you would have to be. You have skinny twig arms.”
“Natalya. Thank you.”
“Is nothing. If you die, I don’t get to punch you in the face anymore. Better you live to fight again.”
Countessa grinned through bloody teeth. “You got it. Any time you want to fight, we’ll fight.”
“You must promise me one thing though.” Ursa gently put her hands on Countessa’s shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes. “No more of this attacking me when my back is turned. Fight like woman not like whore.”
“Ok,” Countessa nodded. “I promise.”
“That is good. But I owe you one.” Ursa Mega slammed her head against the bridge of Countessa’s nose and she blacked out.
METROCITY
St. Kirby’s Hospital
Countessa woke in a hospital bed with an I.V. in her arm. Most of her pain was gone, so she must have been asleep for the better part of a day. She looked around for familiar faces but she was alone. On the window sill next to her bed was a bouquet of roses, a balloon that said “Get Well Soon,” with “Whore!” hand-written under the message. There was also a teddy bear and a Barbie doll. The bear was wearing a red shirt and the Barbie doll had it’s nose cut off and it’s face was painted red with a marker.
Countessa’s hand went up to her face and felt bandages covering her nose that had been broken but had already healed. Countessa chuckled at first, then slowly erupted into laughing so hard that she wept.
BILOVODS’K
City Outskirts (2 Weeks later)
Three men in business suits walked into the dirty restaurant in the middle of a war-torn section of the Ukraine city. They scanned the rough-looking patrons quickly then headed to the back room. As they entered the dimly lit room, the first man squinted at a figure sitting at a table.
“You have our merchandise?”
“Da. You have 60 million Euros?”
Each of the men placed a titanium briefcase on the table. The figure stood up and leaned forward into the light. Ursa Mega held out a small metal canister. “That is good price for one ounce of pure Romanian whore blood, da?”