Chapter 48: Ch 47 – Record Scratch

Jack opened his mouth and let out a puff of black smoke.

 

 

 

Marie had leaped on Antony, knocking him to the ground while covering him with her body. Everyone else in the room was in various states of shock after the bomb had exploded, but nobody was hurt. Everyone in the room was covered in soot and their clothes were, to various degrees, destroyed, but nobody in the blast area was harmed. Oddly enough, nothing in the room was harmed either, only the people standing in it.

 

The explosion got everyone's attention in the building and they came running. Antony was crying, Marie was cursing and her goons were rushing in to assess the damage. Jack had been touching the bomb when it went off. This resulted in Jack being basically naked with only the few tattered remains of his boxers providing him with any shred of dignity.

 

Jack stood there with his hair blown backwards and skin covered with black patches of grime. He let out a long sigh while smoke trickled out of his ears, "I could have handled that better."

 

Marie sat up and most of her shredded clothing fell away in the process. In fact, all the women who had been in the blast were reduced to their panties, only. However, the three other men in the room still had shreds of their underwear and enough of their shirts left to cover their upper chest. Jack noticed he was left in his boxers and muttered, "Huh. You'd think the standards of modesty would be based on my view point, not the targetqqq." Antony and his two friends were openly weeping and hyperventilating while Marie tried to regain control of the situation, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

 

Jack let out another belch of smoke as he cleared his throat, "That was a bomb." He wiped at his face, "I panicked and couldn't think of an easy way to defuse it, so I 'enhanced' it and made it a much more 'effective' bomb." He looked at Marie, "Specifically a CARTOON-like bomb." He gestured at the remains of the Maximum Aardvark shirt that was falling off the third guy, "It was the first thing that popped into my head."

 

The goons who arrived started helping people out into the main room. Workers from the restaurant came down and brought towels to help clean up. To say that everyone was a mess was an understatement. Jack paused to repair his boxers before he walked out into the main room and headed over to the nearest wet bar. He dunked his head in the sink and used sparkling soda water to spritz himself down while everyone else was getting their act together.

 

"Bendetta! Get your ass outside! Check the perimeter! Detain anyone you think is suspicious, ALIVE!" Marie was screaming at his speedster who nodded and was already bolting for the stairs. Marie called after her, "Alive Enough to TALK that is!" She spun to glare at Antony, "You had better have a damn good reason for bringing a bomb in here you stupid BASTARD!" Antony was just cringing under Marie's withering glare, unable to speak out of sheer terror.

 

Jack grabbed a bar towel and started wiping himself down as he walked out from behind the bar, "He didn't have a damn clue."

 

Marie looked up and growled, "What do you-" She paused to check out the soaking wet Jack in red silk bixers as he wiped himself down, before clearing her throat and continuing in a more respectful tone, "Do you know about what clues Antony may or may not have?"

 

Jack used the bar towel to clean out his ear, "You heard 'em." He made a sweeping gesture towards Antony and his friends, "They each saw a different person. I read up on how mental powers work. Mental illusions just implant a framework, and your mind fills in the gaps. It's why I suspected something was up. He ignored your request to stay away. He 'HAD TO' come see you right away. Each of them saw someone different and they were in such a rush to get you the gift, they walked right past security." Jack tossed the towel away and started walking back into Marie's office, "I bet none of them even know what the gift was supposed to be."

 

Marie looked at Antony and frowned, "What was the gift supposed to be?"

 

Antony opened his mouth, then closed it, then looked confused, "Well... uh... it was ah..." He looked away as he stammered and tried to come up with something.

 

The guy with the cartoon shirt covered his mouth and spoke in a panicked, high pitched, whiney voice, "We were sent to our deaths!"

 

Berndetta zoomed back into the room, "Nothing around the place that stands-" She swiveled her head to look at Jack walking past her, "out?" She bit her lip and tilted her head to the side, "Can I... help you find some clothes?"

 

Jack waved it off, "Gonna see if I can fix mine. I rather liked that trench coat." He stepped into the office and started searching for pieces of his outfit.

 

Antony started crying and holding out his arms to Marie, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know! Please-"

 

Marie pushed him to the side and followed after Jack, "Hey!"

 

Jack glanced back, "What?" He was trying very, VERY hard to look at the woman in the eye. Considering how Marie was on the older side and how she had gotten a tad bit soft upon getting to the top, it wasn't that hard for Jack.

 

Marie gave Jack a chin thrust, "Thanks. You did good." She looked down at the tattered remains of her clothes, "You could have done a better job, but surviving is what counts." She shook her head and was looking increasingly furious, "That fuckin' Olga. I'm gonna murderer her!"

 

Jack was picking up various bits of charred items and testing them to see if they could be repaired before tossing it to the side. He glanced at Marie, "What makes you think it was her?"

 

Marie looked at Jack like his head had fallen off, "Who else have we pissed off lately?"

 

Bendetta came running in and offered Jack a curtain she pulled down from a window. She averted her eyes, "Hey, you can wear this while you... fix your clothes."

 

Jack eyed it then raised an eyebrow, "Uh...  going topless is fairly common where I come from." He took the curtain and draped it over his shoulders to cover his nipples, "But thanks for thinking of me." He noticed a bit of twisted metal imbedded in the wall. He pried it out with his fingernails and eyed it while he held it up to the light. He continued talking with Marie, "It isn't who you pissed off, it's who profits." He focused on the bit of metal making it glow, "Who knew there was bad blood between you two?"

 

Marie thought about what Jack said as she forced herself to calm down, "Actually... everyone knew." She scratched her chin, "What you did was rather public." She nodded slowly to herself as she mulled it over, "So if someone wanted to bump me off and have it blamed on the Russians..."

 

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Jack held up the metal and focused intently on it. Slowly, bits and pieces of metal, plastic, wires and electronics that had been blasted around the room started glowing. They slowly lifted up and came together to fuse back into its original form.

 

The Bomb.

 

It was missing some pieces. Even with his best efforts, he could only reassemble the bomb back to a close approximation of its original form. Fortunately it wasn't a working version, so it didn't immediately explode again. Jack kept the box floating in the air in front of him, not touching it as he turned around, "Instead of guessing, you think you know someone who might be able to check this for evidence?"

 

Marie accepted a fresh shirt from one of the workers who had come down from the kitchen. She pulled it on and started buttoning it up as she walked over to Jack. Grinning from ear to ear, the red glow from the floating box reflected in her eyes as she answered him, "Oh Yeah... I know just the gal."

 

From the doorway Antony poked his head in, "Oh? You have the power to repair things?" He held up his codpiece that was now missing a few gemstones, "Pookie, do you think you could get him to fix this?" Marie snapped her head around to glare at Antony. Antony recoiled in fear, "Uh, you know? If you... uh... get a chance?" He gave a weak, toothy smile, then slinked out of sight.

 

Marie looked like she was considering shooting Antony as Jack chimed in, "You know, something similar happened to Tony." Marie slowly turned her head around to look at Jack as she raised her eyebrows curiously. Jack nodded slowly, "Yeah. Except Tony's guys were more on the job. The explosion only took out everyone in the pizzeria as well as his girlfriend at the time."

 

That statement seemed to sober Marie up. Jack walked over to pat Marie on the shoulder, "I know you're pissed, but take a breather before you do something you'll regret."

 

Marie nodded, "You got a cool head on your shoulders." She made a fist and gave Jack a shot in the shoulder, "Gonna be something extra in your paycheck." At that moment, more people had arrived with things to wear. Jack gave up on trying to repair his outfit and simply excused himself to go change in the bathroom.

 

---

 

"OH MY GOD THAT WAS TOO CLOSE!" Jack horsely 'yelled' at his reflection.

 

~Calm down! The worst is over!~

 

Jack was clutching his chest and hyperventilating. He occasionally splashed his face with water, "Shit shit shit shit SHIT! This could have gone wrong in so many fuckin' ways!"

 

~Its okay man. You're always like this after the danger has passed. Just breathe, man. Focus on breathing.~

 

Jack looked around and grabbed a roll of paper towels off the rack it was on and started to breathe through the cardboard paper tube in the middle to try and keep from passing out.

 

His reflection looked at Jack with a puzzled expression, ~Dude, you weren't this wigged out at the museum.~

 

Jack lowered the paper towel roll to speak at his reflection, "That's because it was happening to YOU. I only took over when I knew I could win! I honestly didn't know if that trick with the bomb would work!" He took a few more breaths through the tube before continuing, "We need to upgrade our equipment. Better guns. Better body armor... maybe get some of that two-X. This was a goddamn wake up call!" He gestured to exit leading to the other room, "Especially since we might get caught up in whatever this bullshit is!"

 

His reflection nodded slowly, ~Yeah. You should ask Marie about that. I'm sure she'll hook you up. However, we don't know for sure that it wasn't Olga. We need to make sure.~

 

Jack stopped breathing. He eyed his reflection and slowly dropped the cardboard tube, "You're talking about going on that date."

 

His reflection nodded once and shrugged.

 

Jack hung his head and let out a long breath, "Fuck. I was going to blow it off." He looked up, "I dunno. It doesn't feel right, ya know? All of this feels familiar... somehow." He bent forward and threw another handful of water into his face, "Or we could run. I really don't want to get involved in this shit. It's way too dangerous and way too much work."

 

~Yeah, if you want to quit your cushy job, which I wouldn't mind, we COULD run, but I really don't want to quit MY job!~ His reflection leaned in closer, ~C'mon. How hard could it be to let someone take you on a date?~

 

Jack frowned, "Hey. You know why I had a job working for Tony and now Marie? They stuck to gambling and loan sharking. Stupid people who dig their own graves. Both Tony and Marie stay under the radar and keep to their own lane." He straightened up, "I had no problem with anything that Tony did, and nothing with what Marie does, because nobody FORCED their marks to do stupid things." He looked to the side, "Damnit. I suppose I should go on that date, confirm Olga isn't a problem and smooth things over so she doesn't think she HAS to start a war now that someone bombed Marie."

 

His reflection looked thoughtful, then nodded, ~You got a point. But you shouldn't date someone behind Ivy's back, even if it's for a good cause.~

 

Jack snorted, "Please..." His made a dismissive gesture towards his reflection, "I'll let her know, but in a smooth and tactful manner." He adjusted the ill-fitting t-shirt that he had squeezed into, "You know me. This will be a piece of cake."

 

---

 

Jack smiled nervously at Ivy, "So..." He cleared his throat and avoided her gaze.

 

"I have to take one of my company's clients out on a business dinner or my boss will fire me."

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