Hellcat

Chapter 46

As we moved swiftly and silently through the building, I could hear Stick's soft cries and groans of pain. Japanese filled the space between the pained noises of the old man. We snuck into a large room. Stick was tied to a chair, two men hovering over him as a few ninjas watched silently. The two men were torturing him, pieces of bamboo jammed underneath the fingernails on Stick's right hand. But when Stick laughed, I almost froze. How could he be so terrifying when he was in so much pain?

"Only thing's gonna crack tonight is your skull... asshole!" Stick hissed out as Matt grabbed one of the ninjas and threw him to the ground. One man went for Stick as the other who had tortured him ran at Matt. I don't think so. I lunged at the man, grabbing his arm and twisting it at an unnatural angle. He groaned in pain as I brought my foot up to connect with his temple. He hit the ground hard, not getting back up.

It was only then that screams registered in my ear. The man who had gone for Stick pulled away from the old man, crying out in pain. Stick's only response was to spit out blood and a chunk of ear before connecting his forehead with the man's. The man fell to the ground as Stick huffed out a sigh of relief.

Yanking out one of my knives, I stepped forward to start cutting at the ropes on Stick's wrists. He gave a soft groan of pain when his hands were free, pulling the bamboo from his nails. I stepped back quickly, keeping my eye on our surroundings as Matt knelt before his old mentor. "You okay?" he asked the old man softly. "I've been better," was Stick's response. "Come on," Matt muttered, trying to pull Stick to his feet.

But instead, Stick held onto Matt, almost like a hug. "You did good, kid. You did good," Stick groaned as Matt held on to steady his weak mentor. "No, I just... I just did what you taught me, Stick," Matt brushed off the praise. But Stick shook his head before saying "Matty, I'm... proud of you," in a pained whisper. The two hugged for a short moment, and it occurred to me that that might have been the first time Stick ever said that to him. "Come on, old man. Let's get you out of here," Matt said, ignoring the praise once more.

I stepped forward, prepared to offer my help in supporting Stick as Matt turned him so they would walk side-by-side. But Matt froze, hearing something I didn't. I had been too preoccupied with their touching moment that I hadn't noticed her. Spinning around, a flicker of anger clutched at my chest at the sight of Elektra entering the room, her mask down and sai in hand. "Hello, boys. And girl," she greeted, adding the last bit to me in a jab.

"Do you remember when we met... you told me you'd never abandon me?" Elektra asked, the entirety of her focus shifted onto Stick, who leaned heavily on Matt. "It's funny. For the life of me... I can't remember being so naïve I'd believe you," she continued with a short, heartless chuckle. "But I did. And now, here we are," she added with a sigh of boredom.

"Elektra," Matt tried to speak, but she cut him off. "Don't be a bore, Matthew. Why don't you and your little girlfriend scurry out of here and let me finish what I came to do?" Elektra asked, gesturing to me with one of her sai before throwing the other towards Stick. I knew Matt could have caught the weapon to stop it from hurting Stick. In fact, I was sure that if he hadn't heard me throw my knife, he would have. But my knife slammed into the sai, both weapons flying away from our group.

"I told you, I'm not gonna let you kill him," Matt said, shifting so Stick stood on his own, but so Matt was in front of him like a human shield. "And I told you, too bad," Elektra snapped in response. "You let her track you," Stick said, all the pride in his voice from moments ago filled with disappointment. "She's not gonna hurt you, Stick," I said, a bit of an edge to my voice. "You have no idea what you're talking about," Stick told me. There was no malice in his voice for once. No real aggression or general dickishness. If I didn't know any better, I would have said he sounded scared.