Chapter 73

(PAST EVENT)

Yoshi let out a sigh.

Yoshi delivered a blow to his face with as much force as she could muster. She was rubbing her fist as he was being sent flying backward. Yoshi couldn't hear the small kid scream because her own heart was so loudly hammering in her ears that it drowned out everything else. She wasn't able to think at the moment. The moment was not appropriate for reflection. This was completely automatic and a reflexive movement. The cycle of action and reaction Adrenaline. Recall from the muscles. Yoshi's muscles, meanwhile, possessed an almost impeccable memory.

She was successful in taking down Thugs Two through Five exactly as she had intended, with the exception of Thug Five, who resorted to using nunchakus (with a ninja flourish) rather than a knife.

"Are you kidding me?" She appeared to be nearly pleased with herself. "Nevertheless, I admire the creative effort." During the course of her conversation, she detonated her cat's cuff and sent the ninja flying with a bolt of electricity, neither of which were really ninja-like moves.

But not before Yoshi smashed Thug One's arm with her left boot and prevented him from finishing his shot. The shooter was brought to the ground after the bullet missed its target. Thomas pushed himself into the waiting chair next to the youngster and attached the electrodes to his own head. The boy watched as Thomas did this. A spark was produced by the machine between them. He flashed a grin at his former pupil while maintaining his grip on the machine's lever. "It has taken you far too long. I've been waiting for weeks now. "Yoshi, the small one."

Yoshi looked at him intently, attempting to determine whether or not he was lying, and if he wasn't, what that indicated about the situation. The assailants served as a diversion. The meat of the competition has not even begun.

Thomas let out a snort. "You came for me on a night when the moon is full? And you won't even go to the trouble of turning off the surveillance cameras first? Have you learned nothing from me?

"I wish." Yoshi moved in front of him and removed an unruly curl of blonde hair that was in her face by brushing it away.

"And how much you've matured since the days when I instructed you in the Underground Society," she said. "And how proud I am of you." Yoshi did not flinch when she saw the glare in his eye, which would have caused any female to tremble. "You seemed like a helpless little bird back then, as if you had just fallen out of the nest. Natasha paid no attention to him. She was unable to tear her gaze away from the contraption that was separating the man and the girl.

In the tagging system used by the American military, it had the initials "W.O.M.D." That technology was also the reason why she was here, although M.R.C. had not filled her in on the specifics of the situation. She hadn't been working for the American agency for very long, so they didn't share a lot of information with her. The only thing she was aware of was that she had come here to shoot her old puppet of a master, and that was it.

"What exactly is this object? It seems like it belongs in a museum. There are rumors going around that Thomas the Weird's current position is even odder than his previous ones. 

He made a motion with his hand toward the W.O.M.D. "Technology from the Old Underground Society" Something that I've been experimenting with ever since our once wonderful society of the people was destroyed. You should know that the Program has seen better days in the past. However, this does not preclude the possibility that we could salvage some of the situation and turn a profit.

"Right. The last time I checked, Thomas, you could barely hotwire a Honda.

Who needs a Honda anyway? Now I get around in a Toyota Prius. He shrugged. "Here and there, I've managed to pick up a renegade physicist. Underground Society's lingering relics" He grinned. "Dinosaurs similar to myself, struggling against extinction. I shall live forever, but sometime your new extraterrestrial lord will pass away."