SSV: Project S.T.A.T.I.C.- Part 2

Chapter 14

Alexis smirked as she threw her device down and smashed the transceiver. She left the disruptor on and intact as she stood up and stretched. She wasn't going to risk Amelia calling for reinforcements. Granted the guards would already be on high alert given the gaping hole in the wall, but a break in communication meant less chance for organized resistance. It had taken longer than she liked to prepare a bomb powerful enough to dismantle part of the prison, but it was worth the wait. The fireworks were truly a sight to behold. It felt good to get back to her chaotic roots and sew some mayhem for a change. It had been too long since Alexis had indulged herself.

She cracked her neck and stretched before she leapt up and latched onto a crumbling pillar. Amelia would undoubtedly be expecting her to waltz through the new entryway, but that was too easy and obvious. No, Alexis planned on using the ducts to her advantage. If Amelia had given her Jake like she'd planned, then she'd have simply walked through to grab her beloved. However, since her old friend was choosing to be difficult, she'd gone with plan B. She may have been quiet over the last month, but her reputation proceeded her. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that several inmates would jump at the opportunity to help her cause. Even if it wasn't to help her directly, many of them were surely itching for a chance to get back at the guards for their mistreatment.

She slipped into the air ducts and crawled along the inside with ease. Her small frame made the journey simple enough for her. Already she could hear the sounds of rioting and chaos brimming beneath her. It brought a genuine smile to her face. "Nothing quite like the sound of mayhem in the evening," she chuckled as she crawled her way forward.

She'd studied the layout of the prison system extensively. Miri had done a spectacular job sketching out the plans for her. Once this was over she'd have to treat her little pet to something special. Assuming that Jake was still in one piece, that was. She'd trained Miri well, though, both in combat and conditioning. Alexis doubted that anyone could stand against her little pet project. She hummed along to the music she'd selected for her little impromptu party as she clambered way through. Part of her was tempted to drop in and see just what was happening, but she was on a mission. Amelia was her main target, and she knew she'd have to drop into the mix before she reached her office.

"Get back in your cells!" a guard shouted as the commotion outside continued to mount, "I mean it, get back!"

Alexis couldn't help but grin as she continued crawling through. She'd dealt with the guards here enough to know how cruel they could be. Even if her royal pain in the ass was running the show, Alexis doubted that the guards had changed their hateful ways. If anything, they'd probably ramped up their methods. Amelia was a sadist at heart on par with Alexis on her worst days. Whatever the inmates were doing to them, she had no doubt that they deserved it. She just wondered what was going on outside of the prison walls.

The trip to the prison had been fraught with police and unusual happenings. The cops seemed to be struggling to contain waves upon waves of young men and women causing chaos in the streets. It would have been a magnificent sight if it weren't for Alexis' sneaking suspicion of Meg Myers and her plans. She'd been so focused on figuring out a way to free Jake that she hadn't bothered investigating the woman wearing Meg's skin. Her gut told her that there was something sinister happening, though. It wasn't just the fact that she remembered that platinum blonde coward down in Hell, it was everything she'd heard on the radio since Meg had come into power. The woman was trouble, and Alexis knew trouble better than most.

Alexis was close to the end of her shortcut, and she was beginning to grow impatient to boot. Deciding to throw caution to the wind early, she kicked her foot downward to knock the floor of the air ducts out beneath her. The aluminum paneling dropped down with a loud clatter atop a local gang member that was engaged with a guard. He was stunned for a moment, but his day got worse when Alexis dropped down without warning onto his shoulders. Her small frame came down with a powerful thud, and his new purpose was to cushion her fall. The young man fell to the ground, and Alexis grinned as she stepped on the back of his head and off of his body.

She nudged his head with her foot to turn it back to the side and grinned, “Give it a kiss for me, little man.”

The trio of guards and other inmates looked on with wide, startled eyes as Alexis sweetly taunted her victim. The young man groaned and wrinkled his nose in disgust as the smell of Alexis’ feet wafted into his nostrils. “Yo, is that Footgirl?” one of the other gang members asked, taking a step back out of fear.

“Huh?” Alexis asked, having not noticed the others just yet, “Oh, how rude of me! I’m guessing that you all are fans of mine? Or, are you just a handful of idiots looking to get in my way?”

The trio of street thugs took another step back and held up their hands as one of them spoke on behalf of the others, “No, ma’am, uhm, w-we were just trying to help out like you said. D-don’t let us stand in your way.”

“Awe, looks like chivalry isn’t dead after all!” Alexis chuckled.

“On your knees, you lunatic!” one of the guards barked at her, brandishing his weapon.

“Excuse me, do I look like one of your run-of-the-mill tenants?!” Alexis demanded, turning around and frowning at the guards, “Do you see a jumpsuit on this body? No, I’m just a visitor here. Although, I guess I did forget the little nametag thingy, but still! I went through all the trouble to host this party, and this is how you repay me?! Honestly, can you believe the nerve of these morons?”

Alexis turned back to the gang members in disbelief as she finished speaking. One of the guards tried to capitalize on her momentary distraction by charging at her and swinging at the back of her neck. Without turning around, Alexis’ hand shot out and grabbed the guard’s baton. She looked over her shoulder at him with a very disappointed frown. “It’s rude to interrupt someone when they’re talking,” she said as she twisted her arm and ripped the baton out of the guard’s hand, “If you wanted to play, all you had to do was ask!”

The trio of inmates looked on in awe as Alexis sprang into action. She stepped off of their friend’s head, and swung the baton low to slam it into the guard’s kneecap. He screamed as his knee was dislocated, and Alexis silenced him with a vicious knee to his face that knocked him back into his group. Alexis took a deep breath as she savored the feeling of inflicting pain once again. It had been too long since the last time she’d been in a real fight. Granted, these few were mainly a warm-up, but it was better than nothing.

One of the guards managed to keep their nerves in check as she rushed forward to try to take Alexis down. A quick downward swing of her baton aimed at Alexis’ head and shoulders, but Alexis blocked it with her own stolen weapon. This was too easy. Alexis dropped down and swept the legs out from under the young female guard. She swung her stolen baton upward and crashed it into her jaw for good measure. Following through faster than humanly possible, Alexis was rocketing towards the last remaining guard. She snatched a handful of the guard’s hair and slung her falling body at the last guard.

The young woman cried out as she was flung through the air, but her body narrowly missed the older guard. Alexis smirked at the resourcefulness of the last guard. At least one of the three seemed to know how to handle themselves. Alexis threw her baton at the guard as she got closer, and he swatted it away with his own. It was still the opening that she needed for her to launch her offensive, though. Alexis twisted her hips as she threw a roundhouse kick at his head. The guard managed to duck under her kick, but Alexis followed through with a second spinning kick that connected with his jaw.

The guard managed to recover and keep his footing. He threw a straight punch at her, but Alexis smirked as she knocked his arm away with her left hand. She twisted her hip and threw a right palm strike at the guard’s chest. She hit him hard, and unleashed a straight kick at the guard’s knee. He cried out as her worn out shoe shattered his kneecap. Alexis’ hand shot out and snatched his jaw before he could hit the ground. She smiled sweetly as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek before headbutting him to send him back to the ground unconscious.

She sighed and rolled her shoulders as she relaxed and turned back to the group of inmates, “Well, that was fun. Say, which way to the warden’s office?”

“Uhm, t-that way, ma’am,” one of the inmates replied, gesturing down the hall, “There’s a stairwell at the end of the hall that’ll take you towards her office.”

“Smart boys,” Alexis nodded, “Oh, before I forget, have you seen a short girl named Miri running around anywhere?”

“The new girl that kicked Razor’s ass?” another member asked, “I think she was in D-block, but we’ve been trying to steer clear of her. That girl is nuts.”

“Heh, yeah, she is, isn’t she?” Alexis giggled, “If you see her, tell her to head up to the warden’s office to meet me, will you?”

“Sure,” the same inmate nodded.

“Good, carry on,” Alexis smiled as she ran off towards the stairwell in question.

—--------------

"Somebody give me a damn status update!" Amelia shouted into her phone as Alexis' music continued to blare throughout the prison.

Jake was on his feet again now. Shortly after Alexis had made her move, another fight between he and Amelia had broken out. She'd managed to throw him off of her again, but she was clearly more concerned with seeing her old friend than handling him right now. He rolled his neck as he glanced at the bookcase attached to the wall. Amelia hadn't noticed it yet, but it had folded up once the emergency systems were triggered. His Raven suit was tucked and folded alongside various gadgets in the hidden compartment. He just needed to get to it, or at least some of his gadgets. The problem was that Amelia wasn't just stronger than he remembered, she was faster. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed his gear to stand a chance against her.

"Ugh, dammit!" Amelia roared as Jake charged at her again, "Stay down, Jake! If you think I won't break you before making you mine, you're sorely mistaken!"

Jake ducked under a wild swing from Amelia, but she snatched his jumpsuit with her left hand. She lifted him into the air without a word, and headbutted him before tossing him aside. Jake’s back slammed into the open nook where the bookcase had been. Jake snarled as he got back to his feet with shaky legs. Amelia glared at him through the redlights flashing on and off, and Jake swore he saw her body transform for a brief moment. He caught a brief glimpse of Lilith standing before him with a cruel and sadistic smirk on her face. It must have been the sheer force of the impact from her throw, or maybe it was the effects of his stress and leftover exhaustion. At least, that was what he hoped.

“Focus, Jake,” Ashley snapped in the back of his mind, “Don’t let your mind play tricks on you. Stand your ground, and let’s show this psycho that we’re more than just a toy to be played with. We don’t have to win, we just have to hold out until Alexis arrives.”

“Right,” Jake said, getting to his feet and grabbing two escrima sticks from the rack, “Is that all you’ve got, Amy?!”

“I have had just about enough of your-what the?!” Amelia started before spotting Jake holding his weapons and snarling, “Do you think those little toys are going to help you, Jake?! I’m going to teach you proper respect once and for all, and I am going to break you once and for all! I’ll just have to settle for using you as a seat while your sad little legs heal after I break them!”

Jake rolled his neck and shoulders as he tried to prepare himself for a furious Amelia. Amelia took it upon herself to make the first move this time. She charged at him with her arms up and shoulders hunched. She threw her shoulder at him as she got close, but Jake rolled out of the way and behind her to dodge. He swung his escrima sticks at the back of her knee and hit her with as much force as he could muster. Amelia growled as her leg buckled, but her hand shot out to try to snatch his throat again. Jake threw himself backward to avoid getting grabbed again, though.

Jake landed on his feet and wasted no time in trying to go back on the offensive. It was dangerous, but he needed to try to push her onto the defensive. It might take everything he had, but he knew help was on the way. All he had to do was wear her down enough for Alexis to deliver the final blow. Amelia tried to swing at him again, but Jake rolled forward and over her shoulders and back. The force of his body colliding with hers almost stumbled her, but Amelia managed to keep her footing while her anger and outrage continued to grow. She spun around faster than Jake thought, and hit him with a fierce right hook that sent him stumbling.

Jake shook off the pain of Amelia’s powerful punch, and he launched his escrima sticks at the ground. Amelia’s fury was quickly mounting, but it skyrocketed when Jake’s batons ricocheted off the floor and hit her in the jaw. She snarled at him and roared as he rushed forward and jumped to snatch his weapons out of the air. He spun around once both sticks were back in his hands, and swung them both in a downward arch at her face. The first one connected, but Amelia managed to grab his right hand and stop his momentum. She let out a ferocious roar as she slung him around and slammed his body onto the ground. Jake tried to recover, but she refused to release his wrist.

“You brought this on yourself, Jake!” Amelia screamed as she planted her boot on his shoulder and began pulling his arm out of its socket, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to enjoy this, but remember this is all because you chose this path! Scream for me, little boy!”

Jake ground his teeth to try to stop himself from crying out, but that only lasted a moment before he couldn’t take it. It felt like she was going to rip his arm off! Amelia was slow and methodical as she continued pulling on his arm. Jake could feel his shoulder being dislocated at an agonizing rate. It was going to snap any second now if he couldn’t figure out a way to get himself free. The pain was getting to him, but he needed to try to keep his wits about. He started to scream as his left hand found the switch on his escrima stick. It sparked and crackled as he used everything he had left to drive the electric end into Amelia’s thigh.

He thought for sure that she’d release him once his attack landed, but all she did was scream in unbridled rage and drop her full weight on his chest. Her knee crashed into his sternum, and Jake thought she might have broken a couple of his ribs. She grabbed his left hand and ripped the escrima stick from it. Jake couldn’t react in time as she drove the electric end down on his chest. He screamed in agony as she resumed her painful ripping and pumped his body full of electricity. When did Amelia get this strong?! This woman was nothing like the woman he and Beth had faced in the past. Cunning and charismatic, sure, but she was never this much of a brutal fighter!

The door to the office practically flew off the hinges, and Amelia’s concentration was broken for a moment. She tossed Jake’s escrima stick aside and got to her feet as she spotted Riley’s unconscious body rolling along the floor. “Honey, I’m home!” Alexis called with a sadistic cackle as she sauntered in, “Well, what do we have here? I leave you alone for five minutes, and you go and get yourself into all sorts of trouble! What am I going to do with you, Jake?”

Amelia finally released Jake’s arm and got off of his chest. He gasped and groaned as he rolled onto his side, “Yeah, sorry about that, Alexis. Amy here thought it would be a good idea to fuck up our date.”

Amelia looked down at Jake with wide eyes before looking back at Alexis. “Stop lying, Jake!” she snapped, “You can’t expect me to believe you were willing to go out with my old friend and colleague!”

“Oh, he was and is, Amy,” Alexis chuckled as she slowly walked in, “So, you already knew that we had plans, and you decided to keep me from the one thing that I’ve been wanting for years! I thought we were friends, Amy, but clearly I was mistaken. I don’t like to be made a fool of, or have you forgotten that?”

Amelia took a step back as Alexis’ tone took on a more sinister and menacing sound. “Alexis, I’m doing you a favor here,” she said, thinking as quickly on her feet as she could, “You know how Jake can be. I was breaking him in for you, dear. I was trying to ensure that he would be entirely compliant and obedient with you. Of course I was going to hand him over to you!”

“You know something, Amy?” Alexis asked, pushing her tongue against her cheek as she hit her with a surprise leaping knee, “I don’t like liars, but I hate bad liars more! Do I look like an idiot to you?!”

Amelia stumbled back a few steps from Alexis’ surprise attack. She ran her hand across her jaw and saw she was bleeding. She snarled, but she tried to keep her composure, “Fine, out of respect for you, I’ll drop the act. However, you know that I’d be more than willing to share Jake with you.”

“He’s mine, or did you forget that?” Alexis asked as she leapt into a spinning kick that hit Amelia across the side of her head and staggered her once again.

“You stupid little lunatic!” Amelia growled, realizing she wasn’t going to be able to reason with her old friend, “If you won’t listen to me, then I’ll beat you into submission, Alexis!”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see you try!” Alexis cackled as she readied herself for a real fight.

Jake managed to get himself into a sitting position and tried to catch his breath. He watched as Alexis launched into a series of handsprings towards Amelia, and Amelia brought her hands up in an almost boxing stance. Once again, Jake was relieved to be on the right side of Alexis’ wild and unpredictable fighting style. Alexis kicked her legs forward as she got close to Amelia and her soles hit her chest. Amelia stumbled back again, but she swung her left forearm up to strike Alexis’ calves. Alexis was knocked to the side, but she managed to catch herself with her hands before she went tumbling to the ground. She let out a mad laugh as she threw her lower body around and struck Amelia’s ankles. Unfortunately, Amelia barely reacted to the blow.

Alexis frowned, surprised to see that her old cohort was able to withstand her attack. Her lips turned back into her usual smirk within seconds, though. She’d been dying for a good fight, and she was positively brimming with pent-up frustrations. Alexis vaulted upward with a lightning fast uppercut that caught Amelia’s jaw. She threw an elbow that hit Amelia in the stomach, launched a side-kick that hit her thigh right thigh, and a follow-up kick to hit her left. Much to Alexis' chagrin, Amelia barely seemed to flinch from her attacks. She stumbled, yes, but beyond that her old friend didn't seem phased. In her moment of surprise, Amelia latched onto her throat and lifted her into the air. Alexis wrapped her legs around Amelia's arm, but Amelia bent her elbow to keep her from snapping it.

"We could have ruled this city together, Alexis!" Amelia shouted as she spun around and slammed her friend through her desk, "This isn't who you are! Some docile little mouse hiding out with vermin and filth, what happened to the woman I knew?! The Alexis I knew would have taken Jake by force, burned this city to the ground, and stood proudly by me!"

Jake was back on his feet again, and he looked on in disbelief as Amelia smashed Alexis through the desk. He felt a rush of adrenaline as he watched his long-time stalker fall into the debris. Amelia was about to stomp on her, but Jake charged at her and jumped onto her back. He wrapped his arms around her throat and pulled back as hard as he could. Amelia gagged as he forced himself back down to the ground. Her back arched, and she was finally thrown off balance from her attempted crushing stomp to Alexis. He didn't know how long he could hold her, but Alexis needed his help. She needed time to get back to her feet. Maybe then the two of them could work together to bring Amelia down once and for all.

Amelia managed to catch herself, but Jake kicked the back of her knee to knock her down. He got an idea, but it was risky. He decided to throw caution to the wind at the last second. He let go of her neck for a second, jumped up, tucked his knees up, grabbed her shoulders, and threw his weight down. Amelia was still off balance, and her body came crashing down onto his kneecaps. She cried out in pain as Jake's knees dug into her lower back, and Jake thrust his legs out to roll her off of him. He sprang back to his feet before Amelia could recover, and he was faced with a choice: attack Amelia, or help Alexis. In the end, he chose the prior to buy Alexis more time to recover. He knew all too well how hard Amelia could hit these days.

Jake rushed at her as she pushed herself up, and caught her with a knee to her chin that knocked her back down. Jake climbed on top of her, and tried to hit her a few times across the face. He managed to land two punches before Amelia caught his wrists. She held him at bay for a second before raising her leg and kicking him off of her. Jake tumbled across the floor, but he caught himself before he landed on his back. Amelia got to her feet and wiped some more blood from her chin. She cracked her knuckles as she prepared for another round. He wasn't sure just what it would take to bring her down at this point.

"You're going to pay for that, Jake," Amelia growled, raising her hands and stepping towards him, "I'm going to break you in half, and I'll keep what's left of you to use as my own personal plaything!"

"He's mine!" Alexis screamed as she surprised her with a running takedown from behind, "Keep your money-grubbing hands off of him, bitch!"

Alexis rolled forward and off of Amelia as Jake widened his stance. She stood beside him with a sadistic and hateful smirk. "Not much of a date, huh?" Jake asked, trying to make light of their situation.

"You'll make it up to me by cooking me dinner after I kick this cunt's teeth in," Alexis replied with a smirk, "You can thank me properly for the rescue once this is over."

"First weekend once things settle down, I'm all yours," Jake assured her.

Years of fighting against one another suddenly clicked as Amelia charged at them. Alexis dove to the left, and Jake to the right as she barreled through where they'd stood a second ago. Alexis leapt into the air and delivered a spinning kick to her shoulder, and Jake threw a low punch at her thigh. Amelia growled as she took both of their attacks, but she couldn't land a blow against either of them. Every time she tried, the other one would land another attack. Both Jake and Alexis rolled out of the way of another sweeping attack from Amelia, and the two of them launched a simultaneous sidekick to her chest. Alexis raced forward and jumped over her shoulders; she grabbed the back of her head as she was about to fall, and Jake hit her with a ferocious uppercut. Finally, the titan that was Amelia fell unconscious on the ground.

Alexis sprang back to her feet and delivered a final stomp to Amelia's face for good measure. "Well, that was fun," she sighed, relaxing slightly as she looked at Jake, "As much as I want to take you here and now, you've got bigger things to deal with. Get changed into your suit, Jake."

"What's going on?" Jake asked, already rushing to grab his Raven suit.

"Bunch of weird and wild shit happening out in the streets," Alexis answered, squatting down over Amelia, "While you've been having a little stay-cation, Myers has been pulling some shadow game bullshit. I don't know where Beth and Pam are, but they're gonna need your help."

"What about you?" Jake asked, "Aren't you coming with?"

"Nah, I'm gonna finish up here," Alexis replied, "Miri has a list of who's been fucking with you, and I've got a few more asses to kick before ditching this place. I've still gotta find that little nut job too. She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No, Miri was great," Jake replied, slipping his jumpsuit off and trying to ignore Alexis' blatant staring, "Weird, sure, but she made sure nobody messed with me. Oh, before I forget, Penelope actually helped me here. It wasn't much, but she managed to get me a weapon and give me a heads up that Amelia was planning something."

"Really?" Alexis asked, "Huh, I didn't figure that old geezer would have any interest in helping you."

"Took a little convincing, but she agreed to lend me a hand,” Jake said, zipping his suit up and grabbing his gear, “All she really asked was that I make sure to tell you that she helped.”

“Of course that’s all it took,” Alexis scoffed with a smirk, “She’s all bark and such a weak bite. Heh, smarter than I gave her credit for, though.”

Jake donned his cowl and felt himself slip into an almost comfortable state for the first time since the night he was arrested. “What are you going to do with her?” he asked, gesturing to Amelia.

“Exactly what I said,” Alexis replied, cracking her knuckles, “I’m going to knock out her fake teeth, and when she goes to her dentist she’ll remember not to fuck with me. Oh, I almost forgot! I made you something.”

Jake pursed his lips as Alexis dug around in the satchel she’d been carrying on her hip. She smiled brightly as she pulled out a rope with a spearhead on it. It was rolled up neatly as she handed it to him. “What’s this?”he asked as he took it and gave it a few practice swings.

“I forget what it’s called, but it’s a play on an old weapon,” Alexis explained, “I practiced with it a bit, and it’s good for when you get yourself surrounded. You know, assuming you don’t knock yourself in the face or stab yourself with the pointy end. You’ll probably be fine, though. I can give you a crash course in it later, assuming you don’t get yourself killed on the way to stopping whatever the hell is going on out there. Which, you better not because I will be pissed and head back to Hell to kick your ass and drag you back for our date!”

Jake chuckled as he took aim at a vase across the room. He flicked his wrist and kicked at the blunt end of the spearhead. The weapon flew across the room, and the spear impaled the vase and the wall behind it. A quick yank, and it was soaring back at him. He sidestepped and twisted his forearm to bring it back towards him, and gave it a few twirls for good measure. “Not bad,” he nodded with a smirk as he rolled it back up and tucked it in his utility belt.

“Eh, I could do better,” Alexis smirked, “I’ll show you on our date, lover-boy. Go on, get out of here and get to wherever the hell Beth and Pam are.”

“Right, I’ll take you up on that later,” Jake smiled as he made his way towards the exit, “Hey, did you see The Amazon out there?”

“That massive freak who claims to be your mom?” Alexis asked and continued when Jake nodded, “I thought I saw her making a B-line for the hole I made, but she’s fast for someone as big as her. Why?”

“I thought she was going to try to ambush me,” Jake replied with a shrug, “Amelia was going to call her in shortly before you got here if I didn’t submit to her.”

“Ugh, nasty desperate bitch,” Alexis growled as she kicked Amelia once again, “I am going to enjoy kicking the shit out of her. Fucking freak is probably loose somewhere in the city, Jake. Watch your back out there."

It wasn't the most comforting news for Jake to hear, but somehow he wasn't surprised. He nodded and grabbed the rest of his equipment, "Tell Miri I said thanks, and thank you for coming to rescue me. It's nice to know I've got more people looking out for me still."

Alexis shrugged and smiled as she tossed him a flip phone, "Like I said, you can thank me properly later. Beth and Pam's numbers are in there. Call them once you get out, and go kick some ass for me."

Jake gave her a final nod and a smile before he fell back into the role he'd adopted. Jake Blackridge was gone in a second, and The Raven had returned and was loose in the prison. Part of him wanted to find some of the women who'd made his stay so terrible, but he had more important things to worry about. Beth and Pam needed his help, but more importantly, Sam was still trapped somewhere. The thought of his sister scared and alone made his blood boil. For once, Jake let his rage overtake him as he walked out of Amelia's office. He wasn't looking for a fight right now, but he was determined to make whoever took his sister pay. Anyone who stood in his way was going to pay.