Black Market Merchant

Zane tried to stay under water for as long as he possibly could. The near miss from getting crushed by the huge Mech foot terrified him. However, after all the running and panicking he had undergone, soon forced him to come back up nearly immediately after going under. He gasped heavily as his head broke the surface of the muddy river water.

Turning frantically around he looked back on shore to see if the Mech was going to follow after him. To his relief, the Mech was still standing there motionless at the river’s edge. For now his gamble had paid off.

"I have got to get out of here!" Zane thought looking desperately around the river.

There was a long dock that ran alongside the river that started not too far downstream from him. He could try swimming to it, but the Mech would just follow him. The riverbank on the other side was too far away and the current was definitely to strong. However, it seemed that going for dock was his only hope for the moment. He started swimming for the dock, along with drifting current which further quickened his pace.

Suddenly, there was a loud click and an airy hissing noise coming from the Mech. Looking back at the Mech, Zane saw that the cockpit door was lifting open! He saw a big hand grab the side of the cockpit and a huge man came climbing out. It was Dilly!

"You're a resilient one." Dilly deep voice called out as he looked down at Zane. Dilly reached back into the cockpit and pulled out his weapon, an oversized grappling hook with serrated blades. "Time to fish." His deep voice growled though it sounded almost as if he was making a joke, a scarry joke. He slowly started securing a rope to the grappling hooks end, while eyeing Zane with a cold expression.

Zane saw what Dilly intended to do and started swimming fervently towards the dock. Luckily, the current was with him and he was nearly there, only three meters to go. Once he made it under the dock he could hide around the pilings and hopefully the huge man would lose track of him and leave.

"Zzzz, Splash!"

The huge grappling hook whizzed past Zane's head and splashed right in front of him! The sudden attack made Zane so shocked that he gulped in the foul brown water when he tried to yell. Furiously floundering towards the first set of pilings, Zane finally made it to the first one.

"Awe, looks like my aim was off." Dilly grumbled as he reeled in his hook and coiling the rope in one hand. "I guess being in that cramped cockpit jammed me up."

Dilly quickly finished winding up the grappling hook rope and then turned off the MCM3. Pocketing the key, Dilly tossed the coiled rope over his shoulder. Then he grabbed the top of the Mechs door and jumped down to the bank side below. This motion also closed the cockpit door and then landing heavily, he started perusing Zane on foot.

Zane swam past three more pilings before he stopped, clinging to the piling’s slimy sides, to catch his breath. "Crap, crap, crap! How am I going to get away from that monster!" Zane thought as he pulled himself higher up the concrete piling. The muddy water swirled slowly around his body and above him was the old wooden dock planks. There wasn't anything else around him that he might use for cover.

"Thunk, thunk, thunk."

The sounds of Dilly's heavy footsteps on the old wood dock slowly started coming closer towards Zane's location. Every step drove up Zane’s anxiety and his grip on the piling loosened and he sunk back into the water.

"What to do?!" Zane thought panicking.

"Crash!"

A huge fist suddenly appeared as it punched through the rotted wood next to the piling that he had just swam past! Seeing it, Zane turned to swim further away.

The fist retreated back through the hole and Dilly's head slowly lowered in its place. His long black hair drooped down and obscured his vision. However, he could hear just fine. The sound of his quarry swimming away was easy to pick out from the consecutive river water waves lapping the rocks on shore.

He smiled hungrily as the thrill of the hunt was getting to him and stood back up out from the hole. Taking a quick series of long strides Dilly stood over the area he guessed Zane might be swimming at. Again, he effortlessly punched another huge hole in the dock wood. This time he was right on target. The terrified face of Zane was now looking right up at him from the water’s surface.

"Seriously!?" Zane yelled.

Dilly didn't waste a moment. He gripped the end of his grappling hook and chucked it down through the hole at Zane.

Zane saw it coming. He had to do something! Swim, dodge, try to block it or just let this be the end? However, Zane hadn't given up just yet. He may have lost his rifle when the building was toppled, but he still had his handheld weapons. Three bladed steel Tiger Claws, the very same that his hero, Wolverine, used.

The retractable Tiger Claws on both his arms were still hidden up under the cuffs of his sleeves. Triggering the mechanism to release them, they instantly shot out as he swung up at the incoming hook.

"Pa-ting!"

The sound of the two metal weapons reverberated sharply underneath the quiet dock. The impact knocked back Zane's hand and the vibrations tingling his hand were intense. Reeling back Zane turned to keep swimming away, despite the pain in his arm.

"A really resilient one." Dilly muttered as he started to pull up the grappling hook.

Zane swam as fast as he could, weaving in and out of the pilings. Yet no matter how far he went or where under the dock he was, Dilly was right on top of him. Dilly would keep punching holes in the dock right above Zane, but since Zane was always on the move Dilly couldn't attack properly again.

However, the game of cat and mouse was getting close to the end. Zane was getting exhausted. He wasn't used to swimming this much and could feel his strength lessening from being in the cold water. Something had to change!

That is when he saw it. There was a fairly good-sized log bobbing alongside the outside of the dock. A plan quickly popped into his head.

"I could hide on the other side of it and push out into the river. Then that giant might lose track of me!" Zane thought. He was nearly at his wits end and this seemed like his only option.

"Crash!"

Dilly's fist came crashing through the dock yet again. This time it was slightly ahead of Zane. Zane couldn't stop himself in time from passing under the new hole!

Dilly smirked. "Finally!" He then sent the hook spinning down hard at Zane's exposed backside.

Zane tried to flip over and block the attack with his Tiger claws, but he was too slow. The hooks blade smashed into Zane's side knocking the breath out of him. The pain shot through his whole body and he let out an audible grunt. He intuitively knew that some ribs had to be broken.

Dilly saw and heard this and immediately acted. Since the pointy end of the hook was now underneath Zane, he could now make his second attack. Yanking sharply at the rope, Dilly pulled the hook violently up out of the water aiming for Zane. He was going to try and gaff him!

The sharp point of the hook stabbed deeply into the shocked body of Zane. It burred deeply into the rib cage on the other side of where he had been hit. Just like a gaffed fish, Zane's body was pulled upwards and crashed into the underside of the dock. The wood shattered at his bodies impact and he broke through to the top of the dock!

At that same moment the hook viciously tore out of Zane’s side. Zane, though in pain, seized that break away moment to make a desperate swing at Dilly.

Dilly was unarmed for that brief second and his huge bulky body seemed like it would not be able to dodge the Tiger Claws. Yet Dilly defied the odds and leaning back he dodged Zane's frivolous attack.

Zane landed heavily on the wooden dock and rolled once. He grabbed at his bleeding side and gasped for breath while in pain. Patting the stinging wound, Zane was relieved that no organs were pulled out and were likely unharmed. The whole time he didn't take his eyes off the big man attacking him.

Dilly did not move, however. He simply moved back into his upright position and calmly started recoiling the hooks rope. Then his deep voice broke the silence.

"Well now. You can still try to attack me after that attack and position you were thrown in? You are quite the prey." He finished cooking the rope and looked calmly at Zane laying on the dock. "You must be a lieutenant for the Black Rats. No regular man could perform that stunt. I commend you. Tell me your name before you die."

Zane gritted his teeth. "I don't intend on dying here! You won't beat me."

"Ho? You still got some fight in you. No matter, this will be over soon." Dilly replied shaking his head. "Since you won't tell me yours, I'll say mine. I am Dilly Utter, Mountain League tier Six Match Fighter."

"Mountain League!" Zane gasped as he clutched his side. His ribs were pounding with every breath, that even the adrenaline couldn’t mask the pain he was feeling.

"Yes. Now goodbye, nameless man." Dilly said and at the same moment flung the grappling hook at Zane's chest.

Zane had nearly no time to react from this distance. Desperately he raised his free arm to block the attack. However, he couldn't fully stop it. Only one of the hooks tines was blocked by Zane’s Tiger Claws, while the others rotated and smacked right into his chest! The impact sent him skittering backwards and back out into the churning water below.

Dilly knew that his shot struck home, simply from hearing the thudding sound of metal on flesh. Walking over to the edge where Zane had fallen, he looked over just to be sure that Zane hadn’t survived. As he expected Zane was sunk without a trace and bubbles were still coming up from the water depths.

Just then the radio link in Dilly's ear buzzed. "Dilly, this is Gillian. I have just taken out Garret. The gangster’s boss is dead now, so the fight with the Black Rats is over. How are things on your end?"

Dilly turned away from the empty river and headed back to his Mech. "It's all over for me. No survivors."

"Good. See you back at base." Gillian replied ending the call.

Dilly reached his Mech and started to climb back into the machine. Opening the cockpit, he climbed inside and started it up. Before he turned to go, he took one last look down at the river. Yet nothing was there. He then turned the Mech around and lumbered off.

If Dilly had looked back at the river only a few seconds later, he would have seen a large log bobbing in the river. Just on the other side of it was Zane!

When falling, somehow Zane’s Tiger Claws on one hand struck the log and buried deep inside the soft rotting wood. The impact also loosened the log from the dock and sent them both floating out into the center of the river.

Though barely conscious, Zane was still alive! His body was wreaked and still bleeding badly, all he could do was float with the log. For how long he was at the mercy of the rivers current, he didn't recall.

The last thing he could remember was a sailboat coming up the river before he passed out.

…

"Ah, man. We lost one of our fenders." A sailor aboard the sailboat complained to another sailor.

"That sucks. We just bought one last month." The other sailor remarked. "Guess we need to find something to replace it before we dock. See any logs we might use?"

"Um, ya. There's a big one dead ahead." The first sailor replied pointing ahead. "We can use that one, right?"

The second sailor looked over the edge. "Ya, that will work." Then a spot of color caught his attention. "What's that on the log?"

The first sailor looked again at it. "Is that a person!?" He said seemingly questioning his sight.

"It is!" The second sailor stated. "Man overboard! Get something to grab that log with!"

Zane was not out of luck just yet!