Chapter 14

Asclepius hung up on Bat. He didn't bother washing his hands. He was wearing gloves. "Clean this up," he told his assistants. 

"Yes sir," said one of them. 

His name was Jean, a nice intern. He was studying to be a doctor, maybe a gastroenterologist. To be honest, he reminded Asclepius of Enyo. They were both determined to do well and improve people. 

"I'll be off," said Asclepius.

"Bye."

Asclepius ran to his car and pulled the gun out of his secret compartment. He punched the location into his GPS and started driving. Surprisingly, he was only twenty minutes away and with speeding and lawbreaking, he could get there in less than 10. What the heck was Enyo doing now?

Asclepius speeded through the local streets. People honked and yelled at him and he ignored them. He sped through the streets. 1 minute, said the GPS. "Let's make it 20 seconds."

BOOM! The world shook and Asclepius saw a thin strip of smoke rise from where the GPS was telling him to go. "Shit!" he muttered, recognizing the damage from one of Father's special grenades. 

He stopped and saw someone lying on the ground near the rubble. The entire building had come down. He ran out of his car and to the person. It wasn't Enyo. It was another boy. He was unconscious but seemingly uninjured. He had probably passed out from shock or, he sniffed the air, overdosed on Hemlock's poisons. 

Asclepius checked the boy's pulse and found that it was mostly normal. He slapped the boy's cheek, "Hey, wake up, where's Enyo."

"Enyooooo" muttered a sleepy voice, "The building… her brother"

"Brother?" but the boy was unconscious again. "Whatever," muttered Asclepius. 

He shouldered the boy and tossed him in the car. Asclepius sat behind the wheel and started driving around the wreckage. He could hear sirens so the police were probably coming. He had to find Enyo fast. 

Halfway through he found her. She was lying on her back and Asclepius could see she was injured in multiple places. "Enyo!" he shouted. 

He ran to her and crouched down to pick her up. "Max?" she whispered. 

"Enyo, it's me," he muttered and started to pick her up. 

"Asclepius?" 

"Yeah, stupid, what were you thinking?" he muttered but she was unconscious. 

Asclepius sighed and tossed her in his car. He put in the coordinates from one of his clinics and drove. 

… 

"What the f*ck are you talking about!" screamed Father. 

Artemis flinched, "Hemlock and Anaya, sir."

Father stood up and started pacing back and forth. Artemis knelt on the ground, like a knight, bowing to her ruler. "So you're saying," said Father, "That Hemlock and Anaya disobeyed orders to stay in their rooms and went to destroy a public building using MY GRENADES???"

Artemis nodded, "Yes sir."

"Why?" 

"That's the interesting part, sir," said Artemis, she stood up and took the remote controller. Blip, the screen turned on. 

Artemis pressed a few buttons and the screen turned the picture that Hemlock had taken. "Hemlock took this photo, sir," said Artemis. She zoomed in on Enyo's face, "He believed that Enyo was still alive so he went after her." 

"What?" asked Father, "She's alive?"

"Well…" said Artemis, "She was still in the building when the grenade went off. Gunsmith made sure no one would survive something like that blast." 

Artemis switched to a picture of the rubble, "She probably got turned into ash or blown to bits. Even with her skill, she couldn't have survived." 

Father sighed and sat back down, "How are the two of them?"

"Last I checked, Hemlock was being operated on but he should be in stable condition now, Anaya is resting but she wanted me to give you her report."

"Her report…" growled Father, "Her report of a mission I didn't SEND HER ON!"

Artemis rolled her eyes, "Anaya says that Hemlock poisoned Enyo, then they fought and brought in the hostage, then some things happened, yada yada…" 

"That's not a f*cking report," shouted Father. 

"Alright!" muttered Artemis, "After that, Enyo took Hemlock and Anaya shot both of them to get to Enyo. Then Enyo used Wild Mode and they got beat up. Finally, Hemlock dropped the bomb and ran. According to Anaya, Enyo was unable to move because Wild Mode wore off and Hemlock poison worked." 

Father nodded, "At least that destruction wasn't a waste."

"What?" asked Artemis.

"Well, they killed my traitorous super soldier, right? Well now she's dead and I don't have to worry…" muttered Father, "Why don't you go check to make sure?"

"I-" Artemis really didn't want to. Father was basically telling her to clean up after Hemlock. She sighed, "Fine."

"Oh!" said Father, pointing to the picture of Enyu, "Whose the boy next to her?"

"Max Arwin," recited Artemis, "A student at Sturt High School and supposed friend of Enyo. He was kidnapped and used as bait. Something interesting is that he was found in a frozen meat locker in an apartment building. The other survivor was Noa Lin but she's in a coma."

Father perked up, "Did you say Lin?"

"Yes?"

"Send me her file," said Father.

"Is there a particular reason?" asked Artemis, curious.

"Well, you said frozen right?"

"Yes," confirmed Artemis.

"Well inheritance, evolution, and experimentation can lead to even greater things than the original!"

"Frozen? What are you saying…" whispered Artemis.

"I have reason to believe," said Father, pausing for effect and dramatics, "I have reasons to believe this Noa Lin is related to Cynitha."