Chapter Five - The Mayor

THE NEXT EVENING, DISGUISED AS A HANDYMAN, the Scorpion entered the Empire State Building and rode the high-speed elevator to the eighty-sixth floor, which had been converted from an observatory to the Mayor's private residence. As the doors opened, two large men with cheap suits and obvious bulges under their armpits immediately accosted him.

"Hold up there, Manuel Labor," said the brighter of the two. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Got a call about some leaky plumbing on this floor," said the Scorpion.

"Yeah, well you must have gotten confused, because the only person living on this floor is the Mayor and his pipes are fine."

"Whatever you say, Mac, but water damage is pretty expensive to fix. If you catch these leaks early you can save yourself a lotta dough."

"Listen, you dumb son of a bitch. I told you we ain't got no leaks! Now, if you don't hit the down button on that elevator in three seconds, we're gonna do a tap dance on your face!"

"Jeez, sorry. I didn't mean to get you mad. I just thought you might want to ask the Mayor to be sure. He probably called us when you weren't around. I'll bet he'd be mad if you sent me away after he called for me. But, okay, I'm leavin'."

"Hey," said the dimmer of the two. "What if the boss did call for him? Maybe we should go ask him."

"Whatever, Bobo," growled the other man. But you stay here and watch Manuel. I'll go ask the Boss."

Three minutes later the bright one returned, accompanied by the Mayor, to find Bobo unconscious on the floor and the Scorpion standing in front of the elevator door, in costume, Stinger guns drawn.

"Hello, Mayor, time to pay the check," said the Scorpion.

"Sammie, what the hell is going on? How did this freak get in here?" replied the Mayor as he pushed Sammie in front of him and ran for his apartment door.

"Don't kill me, Buddy," said Sammie, arms raised and staring at Bobo on the floor. "Maybe we can talk this over."

"Bobo and I talked it over before you got here, Sammie," said the Scorpion as he shot Sammie in the chest with a Stinger shell. "We both think you're a jerk."

As Sammie convulsed with spasms and then collapsed from the electrical charge emitted by the shell, the Scorpion holstered his guns and walked past him. The Mayor had retreated to his apartment and locked the door. When the Scorpion got to the apartment door, he could hear the Mayor talking to someone in a loud and frightened voice. Then another, calmer voice replied.

Noticing that this door had the same locking mechanism that Vegas Feral's door had, the Scorpion was about to affix his unlocking device to the door when he heard footsteps approaching. He put the device back into one of the pouches of his utility belt, drew two of his Stinger guns and waited. The door unlocked and swung slowly open.

Standing in the doorway was the biggest, most muscular man that the Scorpion had ever seen. He wore nothing but black sweatpants and aerobic shoes. He was about three inches taller than the Scorpion and wore his long black hair in a ponytail. There were tattoos of dragons on each of the man's arms. To the Scorpion, he seemed almost Asian, although he was sure that he wasn't. The man stood calmly, his hands folded in front of him, staring at the Scorpion.

"Allow me an introduction. My name is Dragon Jack Barbados. You must be the Scorpion. You have no doubt come here to rid the world of Mayor Baudritten, a noble goal. Unfortunately, since the Mayor pays me well to protect him, I will have to kill you before you can achieve it."

"Hello, Jack. You're obviously an intelligent killer, so the fact that I'm armed and you're not shouldn't be lost on you. Now why don't you step aside so I don't have to waste any shells on you?"

In a blur of movement, Dragon Jack executed a double front kick that knocked both of the Scorpion's Stinger guns out of his hands. He settled into a cat stance and waited. The Scorpion retreated a couple of steps, in momentary surprise, then drew his other two Stinger guns and leveled them at Dragon Jack.

"I've got to say, Jack, I've never seen a man move so fast."

"Of course," replied Dragon Jack. "I am the deadliest martial artist in the world."
"I wouldn't be surprised, Jack. Unfortunately, I'm not here to duke it out with you. I'm here to take your boss down. Goodnight Jack."

With that the Scorpion fired twice, at a range of no more than five feet, directly at Dragon Jack's chest. Dragon Jack twisted his torso sideways so quickly that one of the shells actually missed him, the other one hitting him in the left arm. Even more incredibly, although the Scorpion could see Dragon Jack's body constricting from the electrical charge of the Stinger shell, he kept coming.

With one spinning back kick that was just a little slower and less controlled than previously, Dragon Jack kicked the second pair of Stinger guns from the Scorpion's hands. While the Scorpion was wondering how this was possible, Dragon Jack ripped the Stinger shell from his arm and kicked the Scorpion full in the chest, throwing him back about ten feet to slam into the now closed elevator door.

"As I said before," growled Dragon Jack, advancing, a hint of grogginess in his voice. "I have to kill you."

Dazed but not hurt, the Scorpion got to his feet, the elevator door at his back, and assumed a boxing stance.

"Okay, Jack. Let's dance," he said with a grin as a low humming noise suddenly filled the room.

"What's that sound?" asked Dragon Jack, eyes narrowing.

"It's called an edge," said the Scorpion.

"Well, you'll never live long enough to use it," said Dragon Jack as he attempted another spinning back kick.

As soon as he saw Dragon Jack begin his spin, the Scorpion leaped into the air and somersaulted over his head, landing lightly behind him. Dragon Jack finished his kick, realized he was kicking empty air, and spun around, just in time to get a face full of the Scorpion's rock-like right fist, followed closely by a left, another right, and an uppercut. The Scorpion kept pummeling Dragon Jack with the speed and accuracy of a professional class boxer, all the while driving him back towards the elevator door. He was quite aware of how dangerous this man was and didn't intend to give him time to launch another one of those lightning fast, hands and feet blazing, Asian martial arts attacks.

The Scorpion heard a crunching sound as his fourth right broke Dragon Jack's nose, simultaneously bouncing the back of his head off the elevator door. Dragon Jack's mouth hung open and his eyes went glassy. His arms hung limp at his sides. The Scorpion stepped out of the way as Dragon Jack fell to the ground like an old oak tree. The Scorpion pushed the down button on the elevator. When it opened, he dragged the unconscious Dragon Jack into the elevator, selected the first floor button, and stepped back out. The elevator doors closed.

"That should give me the time I need," he said, as he quickly retrieved his weapons and stepped through the still open apartment doorway.

The Scorpion found the Mayor cowering behind the bed in his huge master bedroom. He was talking into a wallet-sized device that the Scorpion knew was the modern equivalent of the telephone. The Mayor was desperately trying to contact someone who could save him.

The Scorpion strode to the Mayor's hiding place, slapped the device out of his hand, dragged him out to the bedroom balcony, and slammed his back against the cast iron railing, which creaked under his considerable weight. The Scorpion grabbed him by the throat and forced his head back over the edge, to the point where any extra pressure would send the Mayor falling to his death.

"Hello, Mayor. Let me tell you how this is going to work. I know that you can't get arrested or tried in this town, so we won't even talk about lawful punishment. You're going to rescind your previous order to have the Commissioner and myself killed. Next, you're going to resign as mayor of New York City and leave town. You will never return. If you don't do this immediately, I will kill you. If you ever come back to this city, I will kill you. If you don't agree to this instantly, well, I think you see the pattern here, right?"

The Mayor nodded his head vigorously in the affirmative.

"So I take it you agree to these terms?"

The Mayor gave another vigorous headnod.

"Good," said the Scorpion as he pulled the Mayor upright and tossed him to a sitting position against the balcony guardrail. "Realize that if you break any of these rules, I will know. Ever wonder what it's like to fall off the Empire State Building?"

"Okay, okay, I get the idea," said the Mayor, red faced, hands shaking.

"See," said the Scorpion as he turned and walked into the Mayor's bedroom. "You can do the right thing, if you're forced."

The Scorpion placed his hand on the doorknob of the Mayor's bedroom door. At that instant, the unmistakable blast of a .38 filled the room and the Scorpion was slammed into the bedroom door by a blinding pain and pressure that was focused near the middle of his back, about two inches from center.

"How's that for doing the right thing, you exasperating, goody-goody bastard," said the Mayor as he pointed the .38 at the fallen Scorpion.

The Scorpion was dazed and breathless from the impact with the shell and the door. He turned as he slid down the length of the door, finally reaching a sitting position at its base. Now, at least, he could see the Mayor and his gun.

"Guess I should have searched you for a weapon," said the Scorpion, each word causing him to wince with pain. "I didn't think you had the guts to do your own dirty work."

"How interesting, you naïve idiot. I'll have that engraved on the block of concrete that will drag your dead ass to the bottom of the East River. And, by the way, once I'm done with you, I'm going to have Dragon Jack break every bone in that traitorous bastard Valentine's body. Then we'll send him to the bottom of the river to keep you company."

The Scorpion shakily reached for one of his Stinger guns with his left hand. The Mayor shot him again in the left shoulder. The Scorpion felt more intense pain and found he could no longer lift that arm.

"By the fact that you're not hemorrhaging all over my nice carpet, I'd guess that your clothes are armored. Let's see if your head is," said the Mayor with a grin, as he aimed directly at the Scorpion's head.

Marshalling all his strength, and ignoring the pain, the Scorpion threw himself to the side as the spot on the door where his head had just been exploded noisily. He rolled as he fell, grabbing for a Stinger with his right hand as he went. The instant that his roll brought him face to face with the Mayor, the Scorpion fired three times, not sure if his aim would be good. It was. All three Stinger shells hit the obese political boss at various spots on his considerable torso.

The Mayor shrieked and began to dance and jerk around like a marionette on a roller coaster. The gun flew from his hand harmlessly as he staggered and twisted back through the door to the balcony. The Scorpion could see what was going to happen. He tried to get up, tried to reach the Mayor, but his body felt like one giant bruise. With a Herculean effort he rose, and had almost crossed the bedroom floor when the Mayor leaped spastically over the railing with a final shriek.