"Octavius"
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dochermes"Octavius"
12/4-12/6/2010
I.
Bane froze motionless in the doorway when he spotted the body. Reaching into an inner pocket of his jacket, he pulled out black latex gloves and tugged them on before going any further. From where he stood on the patio, he could see into the kitchen of the small white-board house. Lying on the tiled floor was a dead man who matched the description he had been given of Paul Hommel. Five foot ten, two hundred pounds, dark blond hair with a bald spot, it was Hommel all right.
The third Mandate agent killed in three days.
Stepping gingerly into the house, careful not to brush up against anything, the Dire Wolf bent over the corpse and realized why it had looked so strange at first. The body was lying face down but the face itself was pointed up. The head had been twisted around. That took a little strength, he reflected. Octavius. Straightening up again, he backed out of the house onto the patio and took out his Link to patch into the phone lines.
"McClearn? This is Bane, I was too late. Same as the others. Yes, I'll wait here."
Standing in the chill afternoon sunlight, the Dire Wolf holstered his Link and looked around. This property had a neat little front yard and a larger back yard with a willow tree that towered over the two story home. Neighboring houses on either side were nearly identical, although the property to his left had an above-ground swimming pool covered for the winter. He started pacing restlessly. In his early fifties, Bane had not changed much over the years. A few grey strands in the short black hair, faint lines at the corners of the narrow mouth, that was about it. He was still gaunt and energetic, still the Dire Wolf. With the wind chill that day, he wore a long black coat over his trademark black slacks, turtleneck and sport jacket.
A few minutes later, a tan Nissan pulled up on the road and stopped not ten feet from where he stood. He recognized the two agents getting out, John McClearn and Gloria Kendall. McClearn was a short stocky man with bristly auburn hair and a pugnacious nature. In deliberate contrast, Kendall was a tall, elegant woman with delicate features and honey-blonde hair. Both wore the black suitjacket, crisp white shirt and narrow black tie of Mandate agents; McClearn had pressed slacks and Kendall a pleated skirt.
"He's right inside the front door," Bane said as they came over to him.
"We're always just a bit behind Octavius," McClearn snapped. "It's getting on my nerves. Listen, Bane. Instead of staying here while we take evidence and prepare a report, maybe you should move on to the next possible target."
"That's all right with me," Bane said. "Forensics is not my area."
"Our team should be here in about twenty minutes to clean up," said McClearn. "Unless they're late as usual. You have the addresses of the other agents Octavius might be targeting?"
"Sure." The Dire Wolf turned toward where his Subaru was parked alongside the country road, but he stopped as Kendall touched his sleeve.
"I'll go with you," she suggested in a husky voice. "McClearn knows crime scene procedure. I'm more of a tracker." She glanced over at her partner. "That all right with you, John?"
"Fine as far as I'm concerned," the man answered. "Why would you want to stand here with a stiff? We'll meet up again."
Bane headed over to his car and chirped the doors open with his keys. As he settled behind the wheel, Kendall slid into the passenger seat and pulled the diagonal strap across her chest. She gave him a slight smile that was completely wasted. Making a U-turn in the road, the Dire Wolf accelerated back toward the main highway.
After a few minutes of silence, Kendall said, "You don't seem pleased to have an attractive young blonde riding with you."
"I don't trust the Mandate or its agents," Bane answered bluntly. "The Mandate has tried to set me up to be a fall guy more than once, not to mention friends of mine they've tried to incarcerate for having unusual abilities."
"And yet you still work with us?"
"When I have to. Look, let's not have any misunderstandings. The Mandate tracks down what it decides are supernatural threats to the country. They use me sometimes as a weapon because of my experience and skills. And I cooperate because most of the time I would have tackled those threats on my own. It works out. But you people are spies, which means you use deceit and trickery as a matter of policy."
Gloria Kendall did not visibly react. After a second, she said, "Thanks for not beating around the bush."
"What would be the point? You two came to me about Octavius. He's been on my list for years, and now he's out of hiding and on a spree. I might as well work with you rather than try to track Octavius down and tangle with Mandate agents as well." Bane turned onto a main road and headed west. Kendall gave him directions to Krause's home, saying she had been there twice. They tore along well over the speed limit, past fields and scattered houses and one pasture with twenty cows grazing. It seemed to take longer than he had expected.
"Well, let me get to the reason I wanted to ride with you," Kendall offered. "Aside from wanting to get away from John's complaining. You know the Mandate is in trouble, right?"
"Just what I read in the papers. Congress is voting to cut funding for your organization as part of a general trimming. There was even some talk of breaking up the Mandate and giving its functions to other agencies." Bane snorted. "As if that ever works."
Kendall took a deep breath. "I believe in our work. My hometown in Colorado had to deal with some large unknown beast when I was a child. It killed four people, partially devoured them, and was never caught. The one glimpse anyone caught of the beast sounded like a dog as big as a tiger. Naturally, I've been interested in similar incidents ever since, and I know there ARE many things out there we don't understand... things that are dangerous. The Mandate tries to locate and neutralize these menaces."
"As well as people with unusual traits or abilities. For study, of course." Bane's voice was openly hostile. "Friends of mine have been taken by the Mandate and I had to free them. That won't be forgotten."
"And now there is Octavius..." She was watching Bane's profile as he drove. "You never fought him, did you?"
"Never met him." Bane slowed and turned onto a side road that said GLENERIE STREET. There was a post office with a small parking lot, he went past it to the next house down and pulled over on the side of the road. "This is supposed to be where your agent Krause lives. He was teamed with Paul Hommel on a regular basis."
In front of the small brick home was parked a red Jeep Commander with some damage to the front bumper. Exhaust in the cold air showed it was running. As Bane started to get out, all his instincts kicked into gear. He walked quickly toward the flagstone walk to the front door of the house just as a big misshapen form swung out through that door.
II.
Faster than a real wolf, Bane was hurtling toward Octavius in a dark blur. The apelike man saw him coming and managed to raise huge fists on arms much longer than his legs, but his swing missed as Bane swerved and came in from the side. The Dire Wolf brought his foot down hard to the back of Octavius's knee and, as the apeman dropped to the ground, cracked a rigid open hand like an axe to the back of Octavius's neck. The impact sounded crisp and decisive. Bane seized the apeman's coat and hauled him up for the finishing blow but was instead took a brutal backfist to the face that flung him onto his back. Octavius had not been hurt by a blow that would have killed a normal man.
Instantly, the Dire Wolf rolled and was back on his feet, out of reach. His first good look at Octavius confirmed everything he had heard about the brute. Not more than average height, but much broader than normal, Octavius had arms that nearly reached his ankles and short bowed legs. He was wearing black trousers, a white dress shirt unbuttoned over a hair-matted chest, and a black jacket left open. None of the clothing fit at all, the jacket was stretched tightly across the back and the sleeves ended halfway up the arms.
Octavius's head was a blend of Human and gorilla characteristics, with a pointed crest, flat wide nose and prominent brow ridges. His thick hair was dark red, his eyes blue and his exposed skin pale and freckled. As he faced Bane across the gap of ten feet, Octavius roared like a bull ape and punched the ground with one enormous fist.
Before the two could clash again, a Walther P99 cracked and three bullets punched home in Octavius's chest. The apeman fell, got up again instantly and charged at where Gloria Kendall was standing in a marksman's pose with both hands holding her pistol. She fired twice more and scored direct hits. The bullets hurt Octavius but didn't stop him. He seized her by the arms and whirled to fling her right onto the oncoming Bane. Both of them went down in a tangle of arms and legs, and Octavius leaped nimbly into his Jeep and peeled out.
"Come on!" the Dire Wolf yelled, furious as he seldom allowed himself to be. He had flashed to his car and yanked the door open before Kendall shouted, "I'm going to check on Krause! You go ahead."
Without answering, Bane got behind the wheel and took off. The road curved just ahead and Octavius's Jeep was nowhere to be seen. He slammed the gas pedal down and accelerated sharply, luckily there had been no snow so far that year and the road was dry. Half a mile further down, the road hit a major highway running perpendicular. Sailing past a stop sign, the Dire Wolf went with his instincts and swung right, toward what he knew was a good-sized town. As a few miles went by at eighty, no sign of the Jeep gave him the sinking feeling he had made the wrong decision.
His Link buzzed and he unclipped it from his belt. "What?" he snapped, disgusted with himself for his failure to catch Octavius.
"Don't take it out on me," came Kendall's insulted voice. "Krause is dead, too. Same way. I'm calling Control for a team to take over the clean-up."
"Our friend got away. I won't underestimate him again." Bane swerved into a driveway and reversed to head back the way he had come. "I'm coming back for you. We need a different strategy to catch this guy."
"I'll be here," she said and broke connection.
Heading back, the Dire Wolf tried to break his sour mood. He had lost first encounters before, even taken real beatings by enemies. The Pudge had thrashed him completely. But he was used to tackling lesser opponents recently. The days of fighting Atron Ke or Golgora were long gone. Bane took deep breaths and calmed down. Now he had seen Octavius close-up, he could form a way to fight the apeman's attributes. Bullets hadn't done any real damage, although they did cause the brute some pain, so apparently Octavius had a healing factor better than Bane's own.
As he parked in front of Krause's house and saw Gloria Kendall waiting outside, the Dire Wolf's anger had been channeled into cold determination.
III.
It was dark when the three of them assembled outside the office building in midtown Landsdale. Bane had only been in Vermont once before and did not know his way around, but he found the place easily enough. Meeting McClearn and Kendall in the parking lot, he let them lead him through the lobby and into one of the paired elevators up to the eleventh and top floor. Here they were met by a man in the same black suit and military haircut shared by agents of the Mandate, given a suspicious scrutiny and admitted through a locked metal door with no names or numbers on it.
Behind a desk piled with papers and debris sat Seth Petrov. It still gave Bane a jolt of uncertainty to see his old enemy in a position of authority. But years had gone by since the former Weapons Master had been pardoned and worked his way to be Northeast Director of the Mandate.
"Nothing good to report," said John McClearn as they entered. The three of them remained standing, although there were chairs available. As McClearn recounted what had happened without making any excuses, Bane studied Seth thoughtfully. The rheumatoid arthritis had visibly worsened. Seth's hands were gnarled and the left pinky stood out stiffly. The man must be in increasing pain, although Bane felt no sympathy for him. There were lines around the cloudy blue eyes that had not been there a year or two earlier, and although Seth had always been thin, he was starting to look frail at only fifty.
When McClearn had finished his report, Seth said quietly, "All of you sit down." None of the Russian accent remained in his silky voice. "Octavius is a formidable opponent. I believe he is just beginning whatever campaign he has underway. All available agents are in the area, I have pulled everyone from standard duties for the crisis and we are searching diligently. For now, I want you three to return to your motel rooms and rest, but be on call at a moment's notice. Bane, thanks again for joining our efforts. I am sure you are forming your own conclusions and expect you to share them with us for the common good. That's all, you may all go now."
Seth turned his attention to the papers in front of him and seemed to have forgotten their presence. McClearn and Kendall obediently left the office and Bane followed them after pausing as if expecting something more from the Weapons Master. He rode with the Mandate agents down the elevator and back out through the lobby. As they stepped out into the night, Gloria Kendall said, "I guess we'll meet you back at the motel, Jeremy. Maybe we can all get something to eat?"
"I'm not going back to the motel just yet," Bane answered. "I want to check out a few ideas first."
"Hey, Mr Petrov said for us to return there and stand by. You heard him," said McClearn.
"I'm not employed by the Mandate. I don't take orders from Seth Petrov, of all people." Bane headed for his maroon Subaru Outback. "You two can always call me if anything turns up." He pulled out into traffic and started driving around, making random turns and getting a feel for this city. He felt it important to at least have a sense in his head of the immediate area.
It was only seven o'clock. Bane turned into the parking lot of a big chrome and white diner that said MAJESTIC in red neon. As always, he was ravenous. The adaptation that gave him his enchanced reflexes left him constantly hungry and also restless. Seating himself at a booth, Bane ordered a turkey dinner as the first thing that came to mind and sat gazing out the window at his left at the blackness. Somewhere out there was Octavius. From what he knew, the apeman was not a compulsive serial killer nor an out-of-control lunatic. The man's murder sprees always turned out to have some agenda, whether to cover a big heist or to eliminate competition among mob bosses or to stop investigation into a racket. But what was Octavius up to now, with the murders of five Mandate agents in just a few days?
The meal came and he tore through it as if he had just crawled out of the desert after a few days. When the waitress returned, he ordered a double cheese omelet with hash browns. Her startled reaction didn't mean anything to him, he was used to it. As he waited, he kept turning over what he knew of Octavius. It wasn't much. Bane had a theory that the brute was a shape-shifter of some kind, because it was difficult to see how someone who looked so monstrous could move around freely. He figured Octavius was like the Hunchback of Hollywood he had killed a few years earlier.
Finally satisfied, he paid and went outside to stand by his car. Bane used his Link to patch into the phone network and started calling some of his observers. Since the start of his career, he had refused rewards from people he had saved. Instead, he asked that they keep an eye out for any weird or seemingly supernatural events and inform him. This had paid off hundreds of times.
Twenty minutes later, he had gotten nothing useful. There had not even been rumors of Octavius coming back into action before he had started this killing spree. None of the observers had seen any trace of him or heard any hints where the apeman might be found. Even Bleak was of no use. The Dire Wolf snapped the Link back to its clip on his belt and grumpily got into his car to drive back to the Marriott where he had taken a room for the next few days. He spotted the tan Nissan that McClearn and Kendall were using. His room was on the opposite side of the building, which suited him fine right now. Parking his car facing out in case he had to get away quickly, Bane opened a side door with his keycard and strode quickly down an empty corridor toward his room.
Opposite his door was a niche with an ice dispenser and Coke machine. No one was in sight. The Dire Wolf stood pressed up against his door, head down, and slowed his breathing to a minimum. Thirty seconds passed and his hearing amplified itself. He could not detect anyone in his room. This was a Kumundu technique that had alerted him to ambushes many times. Bane slid the keycard into its slot, unlocked the door and stepped through with his left hand on the grip of his 38 Smith & Wesson under his coat. As far as he could tell, no one had been in here in his absence.
Locking the door and pulling the chain on it, he went over and checked the window. From beside the bed, he picked up two hard rubber wedges and jammed one under the door and the other into the window track. Finally, he relaxed a little. Coming up against Octavius and failing had him more on edge than usual. Bane prowled the room for a few minutes, still a little suspicious. Finally, he stripped down and put his clothes over the short couch against one wall. The flexible Trom armor which covered his body looked like wet silk but gave better protection than ceramic plate vests. Bane went into the bathroom, took a long hot shower and turned the water cold at the end.
Turning the Trom armor inside out, the Dire Wolf scrubbed it and hung it over the shower rods to dry. He had unstrapped the matched silver daggers from his forearms and he carried them with him back out into the motel room. He still felt agitated, partly from not catching Octavius and partly because he never felt comfortable working with the Mandate. Bane put on a plain cotton T-shirt and briefs, strapped the daggers back on and fetched his revolver to tuck it under the pillows. He gave the room one more searching survey before turning off the lights and getting under a single sheet. Breathing deeply and slowly, he emptied his mind and fell asleep within seconds.
IV.
Before dawn, Bane snapped awake, instantly alert. He only needed a few hours of sleep a night. The Dire Wolf sat up and listened, but nothing had alarmed him. It was just his body being ready to get started. He used the bathroom, checked that the Trom armor was dry and tugged it back on. According to his watch, it was three-fifteen AM. Bane went over to the couch and put on the slacks he had been wearing the day before but got a fresh turtleneck from his knapsack. While asleep, his subconscious mind had been mulling over the Octavius case and he had an idea about what it all meant. Bane picked up the remote control and clicked on the TV that sat on the dresser, turning to a local news channel. This was when he learned about the children's massacre.
The horror of the deaths had just sunk in when there came a pounding on his door. Bane had his revolver in his hand, arm extended to point at the door so quickly it seemed like a conjuring trick. The knocking sounded again and he leaped across the room to flatten up against the wall next to the door. In a normal tone, he asked, "How's your mother?"
McClearn's voice barked, "Goddamit. My mother is in perfect health. Open the damn door." Hearing the correct response even with that foul attitude, Bane unfastened the chain and the bolt, stepping back with gun still raised as McClearn and Kendall rushed in. Both were fully dressed and looked tired.
Seeing no one else in the area, Bane secured the door again and holstered his gun. "I just turned the news on two minutes ago," he told them.
"What a nightmare!" muttered McClearn. "Nine children murdered, all under seven years old, not to mention two adults who were supervising the trip. The manager of the campsite came out when he heard the screaming. He saw what looked like a gorilla in clothing covered with blood, so he grabbed his shotgun and let the monster have both barrels. The creature was staggered but recovered and knocked the manager down with a broken collarbone, then ran away. The man managed to get his cell phone out and call 9-1-1."
Kendall was pale as if she were going into shock. She stared past Bane at the TV screen. "It's on every channel. I feel sick."
Bane turned to McClearn. "It's rare for Midnight War events to reach the public. But in this case, I guess now everyone in America knows what Octavius is like."
"Why would he do this?" shouted McClearn as if it were Bane's fault. "He was targeting Mandate agents! There was a pattern. Now he breaks onto a campsite, yanks the door off a mobile home and murders a bunch of little kids for no reason at all. You tell me why!"
"Steady there." Bane raised an open hand as if to shush the man. "Octavius always has a reason. I don't know why he did this, but it's part of some bigger plan."
"Those poor little kids," said Gloria Kendall. "Just babies. On a field trip, sleeping quietly with the teachers watching them... and this monster charges in. It's the worst thing I've ever heard of."
Bane watched the TV for a moment. An Asian woman with long hair was standing next to a police car, talking to the camera rapidly. "Have you two heard from your boss?" he asked.
"No. I woke up to go to the bathroom and just checked the news on a whim." Kendall gave Bane a quizzical stare. "You'd think Mr Petrov would have alerted us. He must know about this. Chief of Staff would wake him if he was asleep."
"Seth has his own way of doing things," Bane said grimly. "All right. I think we need to go to your temporary headquarters right now and see what the situation. Maybe Seth has been too busy issuing orders to remember us so far, but I want to know what's going on. You two with me?"
"Yeah, I suppose. Let me go secure our rooms, I'll meet you two in the parking lot." McClearn spun on his heel and stomped down the hall. Left behind, Gloria Kendall was still regarding Bane with a puzzled expression, her head tilted slightly.
"What are you thinking?" she asked softly.
"I've got some suspicions, nothing definite. You mentioned that Congress is considering closing down the Mandate. How imminent is that?"
"There are hearings next Monday," she answered. "Mr Petrov is scheduled to testify on behalf of the agency. Why do you ask?"
Bane did not answer immediately. He got his black sport jacket on, then reached for the overcoat hanging by the door. "I hope I'm wrong," was all he said. He opened the door, turned off the lights and ushered her out into the hallway. Without a word, they walked down the corridor and out through a side door. The Nissan was standing there with its engine idling and John McClearn behind the wheel.
As Gloria Kendall got in and the car sped away, the Dire Wolf could not help letting out a sigh. Had it come to this? He hoped he was mistaken in how he read the situation. Walking over to his own car, he climbed in and left the parking lot with a cold sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
VI.
When he walked into Seth's office, Bane closed the door behind him with a grim finality. The Weapons Master was still seated behind his desk, dark circles under his eyes and his mouth a thin line. Kendall was in the chair in front of that desk, but McClearn had been standing to one side with a styrofoam cup filled with coffee.
"We might as well get this over with," the Dire Wolf said. "If I had figured this out sooner, maybe those children would not have been sacrificed. That's something I maybe blame myself for, but I'm no deductive genius. I do the best I can."
Sitting up straighter, Seth scowled and said, "I assume you want to explain further?"
"Yes. I should. Congress wants to shut down the Mandate. The feeling is that this agency does not turn up enough supernatural menaces to justify its budget. Right so far?"
"They are fools," Seth told him. "We can't reveal half of the fiends and freaks we have caught! So naturally it looks as if we have not gotten much done recently."
"Here's what I think. Someone within the agency wants to keep the Mandate going and maybe get it an increased budget. So he has a bright idea. He turns loose a real menace, a monster that will get the public in an uproar with some brutal murders. Octavius."
"What?" Kendall asked with what seemed to be genuine startlement, "Are you saying someone in the Mandate is using Octavius to make the agency seem to be needed more?"
"Act surprised if you like," Bane said. "The Mandate agents who were killed the past three days had all worked on Octavius cases in the past. And they had something else in common. They knew who Octavius really is."
John McClearn took another sip and then placed the coffee cup on the corner of Seth's desk. He was standing just out of reach. "Now this is getting far-fetched."
"Yes, I suppose it is." Bane had moved back a few inches so he was facing Seth, with McClearn to his left and Kendall to his right. He could see them all at the same time now. "It wouldn't be the first time a spy group has sacrificed innocents to give itself justification. With all those children murdered and the public outrage at a peak, Congress could be talked into giving the Mandate whatever it wanted to track the monster down... although the monster was right there with them all the time."
Seth rolled his chair back an inch, but Bane stopped him with a glare. "Don't press any buttons to call for back-up," the Dire Wolf warned him. "You're not as fast as you used to be and I can pin you with a dagger before you blink. Let me go on. Octavius is a shape-changer, I have always thought so. In his Human form, he actually works here. He's an agent himself."
No one reacted. Bane took a deep breath and folded his arms across his chest. "Today, I met you two where Hommel was killed. I went on to the next agent who had been targeted and you, Gloria, insisted on going with me. Why? To give me directions which would take a little longer than the most direct route. So Octavius would have time to get in his nearby Jeep and go finish off Krause. He had just gotten done when we showed up. He got away, which is too bad. If I had dropped him then and there, those kids would be alive. Then you two went your way while I had dinner and thought things over and went back to the motel. But Octavius was still on the go. He went to the campsite and murdered those children so the Mandate would have enough public outcry to justify its renewal. That's cold."
"That makes sense in a way," Kendall said. "I suppose. But your story makes it sound as if John and I are working with Octavius."
"Why pretend any longer?" The Dire Wolf stood with folded arms, glaring coldly at the three of them. "You're all in on the scheme. McClearn IS Octavius."
As Bane said the name, John McClearn's body shuddered and swelled up, changing, the arms growing long and the head distorting. Cloth ripped loudly as the body beneath expanded. Octavius roared like an animal and pounced on the Dire Wolf, only to get a silver dagger sliding cleanly into his heart. With his other hand, Bane shoved the apeman away and freed his weapon. As Octavius thudded to the floor, with a final gasp of lungs emptying, Bane swung to face Seth. The Weapon Master had gotten stiffly to his feet but now he sank back into his chair with a groan.
"That's right," Bane growled. "Stay put. That arthritis has taken you out of the fight club. You too, Kendall. You're better off not moving right now." He knelt and cleaned his blade thoroughly on the clothing of the dead brute. Octavius had not changed back to Human in death. His bestial features were contorted with sudden death, and his eyes remained open.
"That's a break for you, Seth. You can haul his carcass in as evidence and prove to the House how effective your organization is. I imagine they will vote to renew your Mandate and give you more money. And for you, everything will be fine."
The Dire Wolf stepped toward the door, still facing the two of them. "Seth Petrov. Gloria Kendall. I can't just kill you two right this moment, here in Mandate headquarters. I'd go to prison myself. Those nine children would be avenged but I wouldn't be free to continue my work."
Seth started to speak, then thought better of it. Once, he would have met Bane as an equal in combat but that time had passed for him. He held his silence.
"But let me make it clear," Bane said quietly, without anger in his voice. "Neither of you are going to get away with this. As soon as I can arrange it, as soon as you think you're safe, you are both going to disappear and never be heard from again." He went through the door and closed it behind him.
7/18/2014
12/4-12/6/2010
I.
Bane froze motionless in the doorway when he spotted the body. Reaching into an inner pocket of his jacket, he pulled out black latex gloves and tugged them on before going any further. From where he stood on the patio, he could see into the kitchen of the small white-board house. Lying on the tiled floor was a dead man who matched the description he had been given of Paul Hommel. Five foot ten, two hundred pounds, dark blond hair with a bald spot, it was Hommel all right.
The third Mandate agent killed in three days.
Stepping gingerly into the house, careful not to brush up against anything, the Dire Wolf bent over the corpse and realized why it had looked so strange at first. The body was lying face down but the face itself was pointed up. The head had been twisted around. That took a little strength, he reflected. Octavius. Straightening up again, he backed out of the house onto the patio and took out his Link to patch into the phone lines.
"McClearn? This is Bane, I was too late. Same as the others. Yes, I'll wait here."
Standing in the chill afternoon sunlight, the Dire Wolf holstered his Link and looked around. This property had a neat little front yard and a larger back yard with a willow tree that towered over the two story home. Neighboring houses on either side were nearly identical, although the property to his left had an above-ground swimming pool covered for the winter. He started pacing restlessly. In his early fifties, Bane had not changed much over the years. A few grey strands in the short black hair, faint lines at the corners of the narrow mouth, that was about it. He was still gaunt and energetic, still the Dire Wolf. With the wind chill that day, he wore a long black coat over his trademark black slacks, turtleneck and sport jacket.
A few minutes later, a tan Nissan pulled up on the road and stopped not ten feet from where he stood. He recognized the two agents getting out, John McClearn and Gloria Kendall. McClearn was a short stocky man with bristly auburn hair and a pugnacious nature. In deliberate contrast, Kendall was a tall, elegant woman with delicate features and honey-blonde hair. Both wore the black suitjacket, crisp white shirt and narrow black tie of Mandate agents; McClearn had pressed slacks and Kendall a pleated skirt.
"He's right inside the front door," Bane said as they came over to him.
"We're always just a bit behind Octavius," McClearn snapped. "It's getting on my nerves. Listen, Bane. Instead of staying here while we take evidence and prepare a report, maybe you should move on to the next possible target."
"That's all right with me," Bane said. "Forensics is not my area."
"Our team should be here in about twenty minutes to clean up," said McClearn. "Unless they're late as usual. You have the addresses of the other agents Octavius might be targeting?"
"Sure." The Dire Wolf turned toward where his Subaru was parked alongside the country road, but he stopped as Kendall touched his sleeve.
"I'll go with you," she suggested in a husky voice. "McClearn knows crime scene procedure. I'm more of a tracker." She glanced over at her partner. "That all right with you, John?"
"Fine as far as I'm concerned," the man answered. "Why would you want to stand here with a stiff? We'll meet up again."
Bane headed over to his car and chirped the doors open with his keys. As he settled behind the wheel, Kendall slid into the passenger seat and pulled the diagonal strap across her chest. She gave him a slight smile that was completely wasted. Making a U-turn in the road, the Dire Wolf accelerated back toward the main highway.
After a few minutes of silence, Kendall said, "You don't seem pleased to have an attractive young blonde riding with you."
"I don't trust the Mandate or its agents," Bane answered bluntly. "The Mandate has tried to set me up to be a fall guy more than once, not to mention friends of mine they've tried to incarcerate for having unusual abilities."
"And yet you still work with us?"
"When I have to. Look, let's not have any misunderstandings. The Mandate tracks down what it decides are supernatural threats to the country. They use me sometimes as a weapon because of my experience and skills. And I cooperate because most of the time I would have tackled those threats on my own. It works out. But you people are spies, which means you use deceit and trickery as a matter of policy."
Gloria Kendall did not visibly react. After a second, she said, "Thanks for not beating around the bush."
"What would be the point? You two came to me about Octavius. He's been on my list for years, and now he's out of hiding and on a spree. I might as well work with you rather than try to track Octavius down and tangle with Mandate agents as well." Bane turned onto a main road and headed west. Kendall gave him directions to Krause's home, saying she had been there twice. They tore along well over the speed limit, past fields and scattered houses and one pasture with twenty cows grazing. It seemed to take longer than he had expected.
"Well, let me get to the reason I wanted to ride with you," Kendall offered. "Aside from wanting to get away from John's complaining. You know the Mandate is in trouble, right?"
"Just what I read in the papers. Congress is voting to cut funding for your organization as part of a general trimming. There was even some talk of breaking up the Mandate and giving its functions to other agencies." Bane snorted. "As if that ever works."
Kendall took a deep breath. "I believe in our work. My hometown in Colorado had to deal with some large unknown beast when I was a child. It killed four people, partially devoured them, and was never caught. The one glimpse anyone caught of the beast sounded like a dog as big as a tiger. Naturally, I've been interested in similar incidents ever since, and I know there ARE many things out there we don't understand... things that are dangerous. The Mandate tries to locate and neutralize these menaces."
"As well as people with unusual traits or abilities. For study, of course." Bane's voice was openly hostile. "Friends of mine have been taken by the Mandate and I had to free them. That won't be forgotten."
"And now there is Octavius..." She was watching Bane's profile as he drove. "You never fought him, did you?"
"Never met him." Bane slowed and turned onto a side road that said GLENERIE STREET. There was a post office with a small parking lot, he went past it to the next house down and pulled over on the side of the road. "This is supposed to be where your agent Krause lives. He was teamed with Paul Hommel on a regular basis."
In front of the small brick home was parked a red Jeep Commander with some damage to the front bumper. Exhaust in the cold air showed it was running. As Bane started to get out, all his instincts kicked into gear. He walked quickly toward the flagstone walk to the front door of the house just as a big misshapen form swung out through that door.
II.
Faster than a real wolf, Bane was hurtling toward Octavius in a dark blur. The apelike man saw him coming and managed to raise huge fists on arms much longer than his legs, but his swing missed as Bane swerved and came in from the side. The Dire Wolf brought his foot down hard to the back of Octavius's knee and, as the apeman dropped to the ground, cracked a rigid open hand like an axe to the back of Octavius's neck. The impact sounded crisp and decisive. Bane seized the apeman's coat and hauled him up for the finishing blow but was instead took a brutal backfist to the face that flung him onto his back. Octavius had not been hurt by a blow that would have killed a normal man.
Instantly, the Dire Wolf rolled and was back on his feet, out of reach. His first good look at Octavius confirmed everything he had heard about the brute. Not more than average height, but much broader than normal, Octavius had arms that nearly reached his ankles and short bowed legs. He was wearing black trousers, a white dress shirt unbuttoned over a hair-matted chest, and a black jacket left open. None of the clothing fit at all, the jacket was stretched tightly across the back and the sleeves ended halfway up the arms.
Octavius's head was a blend of Human and gorilla characteristics, with a pointed crest, flat wide nose and prominent brow ridges. His thick hair was dark red, his eyes blue and his exposed skin pale and freckled. As he faced Bane across the gap of ten feet, Octavius roared like a bull ape and punched the ground with one enormous fist.
Before the two could clash again, a Walther P99 cracked and three bullets punched home in Octavius's chest. The apeman fell, got up again instantly and charged at where Gloria Kendall was standing in a marksman's pose with both hands holding her pistol. She fired twice more and scored direct hits. The bullets hurt Octavius but didn't stop him. He seized her by the arms and whirled to fling her right onto the oncoming Bane. Both of them went down in a tangle of arms and legs, and Octavius leaped nimbly into his Jeep and peeled out.
"Come on!" the Dire Wolf yelled, furious as he seldom allowed himself to be. He had flashed to his car and yanked the door open before Kendall shouted, "I'm going to check on Krause! You go ahead."
Without answering, Bane got behind the wheel and took off. The road curved just ahead and Octavius's Jeep was nowhere to be seen. He slammed the gas pedal down and accelerated sharply, luckily there had been no snow so far that year and the road was dry. Half a mile further down, the road hit a major highway running perpendicular. Sailing past a stop sign, the Dire Wolf went with his instincts and swung right, toward what he knew was a good-sized town. As a few miles went by at eighty, no sign of the Jeep gave him the sinking feeling he had made the wrong decision.
His Link buzzed and he unclipped it from his belt. "What?" he snapped, disgusted with himself for his failure to catch Octavius.
"Don't take it out on me," came Kendall's insulted voice. "Krause is dead, too. Same way. I'm calling Control for a team to take over the clean-up."
"Our friend got away. I won't underestimate him again." Bane swerved into a driveway and reversed to head back the way he had come. "I'm coming back for you. We need a different strategy to catch this guy."
"I'll be here," she said and broke connection.
Heading back, the Dire Wolf tried to break his sour mood. He had lost first encounters before, even taken real beatings by enemies. The Pudge had thrashed him completely. But he was used to tackling lesser opponents recently. The days of fighting Atron Ke or Golgora were long gone. Bane took deep breaths and calmed down. Now he had seen Octavius close-up, he could form a way to fight the apeman's attributes. Bullets hadn't done any real damage, although they did cause the brute some pain, so apparently Octavius had a healing factor better than Bane's own.
As he parked in front of Krause's house and saw Gloria Kendall waiting outside, the Dire Wolf's anger had been channeled into cold determination.
III.
It was dark when the three of them assembled outside the office building in midtown Landsdale. Bane had only been in Vermont once before and did not know his way around, but he found the place easily enough. Meeting McClearn and Kendall in the parking lot, he let them lead him through the lobby and into one of the paired elevators up to the eleventh and top floor. Here they were met by a man in the same black suit and military haircut shared by agents of the Mandate, given a suspicious scrutiny and admitted through a locked metal door with no names or numbers on it.
Behind a desk piled with papers and debris sat Seth Petrov. It still gave Bane a jolt of uncertainty to see his old enemy in a position of authority. But years had gone by since the former Weapons Master had been pardoned and worked his way to be Northeast Director of the Mandate.
"Nothing good to report," said John McClearn as they entered. The three of them remained standing, although there were chairs available. As McClearn recounted what had happened without making any excuses, Bane studied Seth thoughtfully. The rheumatoid arthritis had visibly worsened. Seth's hands were gnarled and the left pinky stood out stiffly. The man must be in increasing pain, although Bane felt no sympathy for him. There were lines around the cloudy blue eyes that had not been there a year or two earlier, and although Seth had always been thin, he was starting to look frail at only fifty.
When McClearn had finished his report, Seth said quietly, "All of you sit down." None of the Russian accent remained in his silky voice. "Octavius is a formidable opponent. I believe he is just beginning whatever campaign he has underway. All available agents are in the area, I have pulled everyone from standard duties for the crisis and we are searching diligently. For now, I want you three to return to your motel rooms and rest, but be on call at a moment's notice. Bane, thanks again for joining our efforts. I am sure you are forming your own conclusions and expect you to share them with us for the common good. That's all, you may all go now."
Seth turned his attention to the papers in front of him and seemed to have forgotten their presence. McClearn and Kendall obediently left the office and Bane followed them after pausing as if expecting something more from the Weapons Master. He rode with the Mandate agents down the elevator and back out through the lobby. As they stepped out into the night, Gloria Kendall said, "I guess we'll meet you back at the motel, Jeremy. Maybe we can all get something to eat?"
"I'm not going back to the motel just yet," Bane answered. "I want to check out a few ideas first."
"Hey, Mr Petrov said for us to return there and stand by. You heard him," said McClearn.
"I'm not employed by the Mandate. I don't take orders from Seth Petrov, of all people." Bane headed for his maroon Subaru Outback. "You two can always call me if anything turns up." He pulled out into traffic and started driving around, making random turns and getting a feel for this city. He felt it important to at least have a sense in his head of the immediate area.
It was only seven o'clock. Bane turned into the parking lot of a big chrome and white diner that said MAJESTIC in red neon. As always, he was ravenous. The adaptation that gave him his enchanced reflexes left him constantly hungry and also restless. Seating himself at a booth, Bane ordered a turkey dinner as the first thing that came to mind and sat gazing out the window at his left at the blackness. Somewhere out there was Octavius. From what he knew, the apeman was not a compulsive serial killer nor an out-of-control lunatic. The man's murder sprees always turned out to have some agenda, whether to cover a big heist or to eliminate competition among mob bosses or to stop investigation into a racket. But what was Octavius up to now, with the murders of five Mandate agents in just a few days?
The meal came and he tore through it as if he had just crawled out of the desert after a few days. When the waitress returned, he ordered a double cheese omelet with hash browns. Her startled reaction didn't mean anything to him, he was used to it. As he waited, he kept turning over what he knew of Octavius. It wasn't much. Bane had a theory that the brute was a shape-shifter of some kind, because it was difficult to see how someone who looked so monstrous could move around freely. He figured Octavius was like the Hunchback of Hollywood he had killed a few years earlier.
Finally satisfied, he paid and went outside to stand by his car. Bane used his Link to patch into the phone network and started calling some of his observers. Since the start of his career, he had refused rewards from people he had saved. Instead, he asked that they keep an eye out for any weird or seemingly supernatural events and inform him. This had paid off hundreds of times.
Twenty minutes later, he had gotten nothing useful. There had not even been rumors of Octavius coming back into action before he had started this killing spree. None of the observers had seen any trace of him or heard any hints where the apeman might be found. Even Bleak was of no use. The Dire Wolf snapped the Link back to its clip on his belt and grumpily got into his car to drive back to the Marriott where he had taken a room for the next few days. He spotted the tan Nissan that McClearn and Kendall were using. His room was on the opposite side of the building, which suited him fine right now. Parking his car facing out in case he had to get away quickly, Bane opened a side door with his keycard and strode quickly down an empty corridor toward his room.
Opposite his door was a niche with an ice dispenser and Coke machine. No one was in sight. The Dire Wolf stood pressed up against his door, head down, and slowed his breathing to a minimum. Thirty seconds passed and his hearing amplified itself. He could not detect anyone in his room. This was a Kumundu technique that had alerted him to ambushes many times. Bane slid the keycard into its slot, unlocked the door and stepped through with his left hand on the grip of his 38 Smith & Wesson under his coat. As far as he could tell, no one had been in here in his absence.
Locking the door and pulling the chain on it, he went over and checked the window. From beside the bed, he picked up two hard rubber wedges and jammed one under the door and the other into the window track. Finally, he relaxed a little. Coming up against Octavius and failing had him more on edge than usual. Bane prowled the room for a few minutes, still a little suspicious. Finally, he stripped down and put his clothes over the short couch against one wall. The flexible Trom armor which covered his body looked like wet silk but gave better protection than ceramic plate vests. Bane went into the bathroom, took a long hot shower and turned the water cold at the end.
Turning the Trom armor inside out, the Dire Wolf scrubbed it and hung it over the shower rods to dry. He had unstrapped the matched silver daggers from his forearms and he carried them with him back out into the motel room. He still felt agitated, partly from not catching Octavius and partly because he never felt comfortable working with the Mandate. Bane put on a plain cotton T-shirt and briefs, strapped the daggers back on and fetched his revolver to tuck it under the pillows. He gave the room one more searching survey before turning off the lights and getting under a single sheet. Breathing deeply and slowly, he emptied his mind and fell asleep within seconds.
IV.
Before dawn, Bane snapped awake, instantly alert. He only needed a few hours of sleep a night. The Dire Wolf sat up and listened, but nothing had alarmed him. It was just his body being ready to get started. He used the bathroom, checked that the Trom armor was dry and tugged it back on. According to his watch, it was three-fifteen AM. Bane went over to the couch and put on the slacks he had been wearing the day before but got a fresh turtleneck from his knapsack. While asleep, his subconscious mind had been mulling over the Octavius case and he had an idea about what it all meant. Bane picked up the remote control and clicked on the TV that sat on the dresser, turning to a local news channel. This was when he learned about the children's massacre.
The horror of the deaths had just sunk in when there came a pounding on his door. Bane had his revolver in his hand, arm extended to point at the door so quickly it seemed like a conjuring trick. The knocking sounded again and he leaped across the room to flatten up against the wall next to the door. In a normal tone, he asked, "How's your mother?"
McClearn's voice barked, "Goddamit. My mother is in perfect health. Open the damn door." Hearing the correct response even with that foul attitude, Bane unfastened the chain and the bolt, stepping back with gun still raised as McClearn and Kendall rushed in. Both were fully dressed and looked tired.
Seeing no one else in the area, Bane secured the door again and holstered his gun. "I just turned the news on two minutes ago," he told them.
"What a nightmare!" muttered McClearn. "Nine children murdered, all under seven years old, not to mention two adults who were supervising the trip. The manager of the campsite came out when he heard the screaming. He saw what looked like a gorilla in clothing covered with blood, so he grabbed his shotgun and let the monster have both barrels. The creature was staggered but recovered and knocked the manager down with a broken collarbone, then ran away. The man managed to get his cell phone out and call 9-1-1."
Kendall was pale as if she were going into shock. She stared past Bane at the TV screen. "It's on every channel. I feel sick."
Bane turned to McClearn. "It's rare for Midnight War events to reach the public. But in this case, I guess now everyone in America knows what Octavius is like."
"Why would he do this?" shouted McClearn as if it were Bane's fault. "He was targeting Mandate agents! There was a pattern. Now he breaks onto a campsite, yanks the door off a mobile home and murders a bunch of little kids for no reason at all. You tell me why!"
"Steady there." Bane raised an open hand as if to shush the man. "Octavius always has a reason. I don't know why he did this, but it's part of some bigger plan."
"Those poor little kids," said Gloria Kendall. "Just babies. On a field trip, sleeping quietly with the teachers watching them... and this monster charges in. It's the worst thing I've ever heard of."
Bane watched the TV for a moment. An Asian woman with long hair was standing next to a police car, talking to the camera rapidly. "Have you two heard from your boss?" he asked.
"No. I woke up to go to the bathroom and just checked the news on a whim." Kendall gave Bane a quizzical stare. "You'd think Mr Petrov would have alerted us. He must know about this. Chief of Staff would wake him if he was asleep."
"Seth has his own way of doing things," Bane said grimly. "All right. I think we need to go to your temporary headquarters right now and see what the situation. Maybe Seth has been too busy issuing orders to remember us so far, but I want to know what's going on. You two with me?"
"Yeah, I suppose. Let me go secure our rooms, I'll meet you two in the parking lot." McClearn spun on his heel and stomped down the hall. Left behind, Gloria Kendall was still regarding Bane with a puzzled expression, her head tilted slightly.
"What are you thinking?" she asked softly.
"I've got some suspicions, nothing definite. You mentioned that Congress is considering closing down the Mandate. How imminent is that?"
"There are hearings next Monday," she answered. "Mr Petrov is scheduled to testify on behalf of the agency. Why do you ask?"
Bane did not answer immediately. He got his black sport jacket on, then reached for the overcoat hanging by the door. "I hope I'm wrong," was all he said. He opened the door, turned off the lights and ushered her out into the hallway. Without a word, they walked down the corridor and out through a side door. The Nissan was standing there with its engine idling and John McClearn behind the wheel.
As Gloria Kendall got in and the car sped away, the Dire Wolf could not help letting out a sigh. Had it come to this? He hoped he was mistaken in how he read the situation. Walking over to his own car, he climbed in and left the parking lot with a cold sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
VI.
When he walked into Seth's office, Bane closed the door behind him with a grim finality. The Weapons Master was still seated behind his desk, dark circles under his eyes and his mouth a thin line. Kendall was in the chair in front of that desk, but McClearn had been standing to one side with a styrofoam cup filled with coffee.
"We might as well get this over with," the Dire Wolf said. "If I had figured this out sooner, maybe those children would not have been sacrificed. That's something I maybe blame myself for, but I'm no deductive genius. I do the best I can."
Sitting up straighter, Seth scowled and said, "I assume you want to explain further?"
"Yes. I should. Congress wants to shut down the Mandate. The feeling is that this agency does not turn up enough supernatural menaces to justify its budget. Right so far?"
"They are fools," Seth told him. "We can't reveal half of the fiends and freaks we have caught! So naturally it looks as if we have not gotten much done recently."
"Here's what I think. Someone within the agency wants to keep the Mandate going and maybe get it an increased budget. So he has a bright idea. He turns loose a real menace, a monster that will get the public in an uproar with some brutal murders. Octavius."
"What?" Kendall asked with what seemed to be genuine startlement, "Are you saying someone in the Mandate is using Octavius to make the agency seem to be needed more?"
"Act surprised if you like," Bane said. "The Mandate agents who were killed the past three days had all worked on Octavius cases in the past. And they had something else in common. They knew who Octavius really is."
John McClearn took another sip and then placed the coffee cup on the corner of Seth's desk. He was standing just out of reach. "Now this is getting far-fetched."
"Yes, I suppose it is." Bane had moved back a few inches so he was facing Seth, with McClearn to his left and Kendall to his right. He could see them all at the same time now. "It wouldn't be the first time a spy group has sacrificed innocents to give itself justification. With all those children murdered and the public outrage at a peak, Congress could be talked into giving the Mandate whatever it wanted to track the monster down... although the monster was right there with them all the time."
Seth rolled his chair back an inch, but Bane stopped him with a glare. "Don't press any buttons to call for back-up," the Dire Wolf warned him. "You're not as fast as you used to be and I can pin you with a dagger before you blink. Let me go on. Octavius is a shape-changer, I have always thought so. In his Human form, he actually works here. He's an agent himself."
No one reacted. Bane took a deep breath and folded his arms across his chest. "Today, I met you two where Hommel was killed. I went on to the next agent who had been targeted and you, Gloria, insisted on going with me. Why? To give me directions which would take a little longer than the most direct route. So Octavius would have time to get in his nearby Jeep and go finish off Krause. He had just gotten done when we showed up. He got away, which is too bad. If I had dropped him then and there, those kids would be alive. Then you two went your way while I had dinner and thought things over and went back to the motel. But Octavius was still on the go. He went to the campsite and murdered those children so the Mandate would have enough public outcry to justify its renewal. That's cold."
"That makes sense in a way," Kendall said. "I suppose. But your story makes it sound as if John and I are working with Octavius."
"Why pretend any longer?" The Dire Wolf stood with folded arms, glaring coldly at the three of them. "You're all in on the scheme. McClearn IS Octavius."
As Bane said the name, John McClearn's body shuddered and swelled up, changing, the arms growing long and the head distorting. Cloth ripped loudly as the body beneath expanded. Octavius roared like an animal and pounced on the Dire Wolf, only to get a silver dagger sliding cleanly into his heart. With his other hand, Bane shoved the apeman away and freed his weapon. As Octavius thudded to the floor, with a final gasp of lungs emptying, Bane swung to face Seth. The Weapon Master had gotten stiffly to his feet but now he sank back into his chair with a groan.
"That's right," Bane growled. "Stay put. That arthritis has taken you out of the fight club. You too, Kendall. You're better off not moving right now." He knelt and cleaned his blade thoroughly on the clothing of the dead brute. Octavius had not changed back to Human in death. His bestial features were contorted with sudden death, and his eyes remained open.
"That's a break for you, Seth. You can haul his carcass in as evidence and prove to the House how effective your organization is. I imagine they will vote to renew your Mandate and give you more money. And for you, everything will be fine."
The Dire Wolf stepped toward the door, still facing the two of them. "Seth Petrov. Gloria Kendall. I can't just kill you two right this moment, here in Mandate headquarters. I'd go to prison myself. Those nine children would be avenged but I wouldn't be free to continue my work."
Seth started to speak, then thought better of it. Once, he would have met Bane as an equal in combat but that time had passed for him. He held his silence.
"But let me make it clear," Bane said quietly, without anger in his voice. "Neither of you are going to get away with this. As soon as I can arrange it, as soon as you think you're safe, you are both going to disappear and never be heard from again." He went through the door and closed it behind him.
7/18/2014
