Revenge Fantasy

"Fine... You win. I'll let you hand me off to one of your buyers."

John keeps his hand up as Chouko says this. His breath is utterly ragged, and he's bracing himself for what is to come.

There's no reason for him to believe she's being honest. What Chouko has just done, what inhuman things she's done to everyone in this room, is blatantly just dark magic.

It has to be why all of the Underworld is after her, why the pot started from fifty million and had about ninety-nine people bid the same amount. Chouko Ashford is more than just some forgotten rich girl who wiped out an entire office building of mercenaries. She is a nightmarish threat with inhuman powers beyond belief, an elusive threat destined to live no matter what.

Nothing could top the... nightmarish onslaught he faced, but Ashford's survived this long. She's eluded him and Yumi once already, and has been eluding the entire Underworld. This may be a false surrender, a subtle distraction, or a fresh start to a temporary truce that ends with his head on a stake... anything of the sort can happen.

Several moments pass with John just staring, with him simply bracing himself for the worst. Every twitch of the eye belongs to a man who remembers the last few minutes... no, the last minute, when fear stabbed his spine with just a single touch. There has to be another trick to this. Something for him to notice, and—if he can't do anything about it—for Yumi and her ability to react to.

There's no trick, however. Chouko stands in place with her arms at her side, making no attempt to lunge for a weapon, unleash her ability, or anything. She's just standing, peacefully surrendering after everything.

A long while passes before John's paranoia turns to a calmer, yet ever so cautious confusion. "A... Are you serious?" John asks, wanting to know if Ashford is being honest. "After all that, you're... you're surrendering?"

"Yes," Chouko responds, staring at John. "Small hiccup aside, I am fundamentally at your mercy. You have me captured. Now, I shall come along with you willingly."

...

No. John still does not believe her for a second.

One does not simply give up after almost putting four people out of commission with what can only be described as dark magic. Nightmares became real just because of an unconscious woman undergoing a blood transfusion. This innocuous statement is a blatant lie.

Is Ashford really going to give up now, when the entire world mysteriously disappears at her whim, and nightmares scream and overwhelm his whole being in response? After all she's done, after all she's endured, Ashford is just willingly giving herself up? John finds it hard to believe.

As John thinks about this, the next person to speak up is Yumi.

Yumi still stands paralyzed throughout the entire interaction, staring at Chouko as she surrenders to John. Similar thoughts run through Yumi's head about Ashford's power, albeit in a different way. Not only can Ashford's ability trick Yumi into grabbing a broken android instead of a human woman, but now Yumi knows there's some little faceless girl that did some messed-up shit to the room itself.

Yumi believes dark magic is the most underwhelming term one could call it; it's a complete and total catastrophe of an ability.

After all that, Ashford took the time to ensure everyone in the room was scared of her, went to hug an android once everyone couldn't move properly to stop her, and then decided to give up out of nowhere? She really used her power on a whim to torture every single person in the room, then decided "nah, you guys are cool, let's get me sold" just like that?

Complete and utter bullcrap.

"What... What the hell is going on in your head?!" Yumi is the first to shout, stomping her foot down to regain feeling in her body. "Have you gone completely insane, Ashford?!"

"Yes," Chouko bluntly answers. "I am. I have gone absolutely insane. It's not like you can do anything about it. I've disarmed you."

Yumi has an offended, livid look on her face. Her hands tightly grip the back of the chair. "You fucking psycho...!" Yumi shouts, about to lift the chair and—

"Don't!" John shouts as he grits his teeth, the searing light in his palm building up and shining brighter. "Stay back, Yumi, now!"

Yumi looks to John, and takes a tense... tense breath. Every part of her body twitches as she has to hold back the urge to beat the shit out of Ashford. The veins in her arms pulse, with fury burning in her blue eyes.

John doesn't explain anything to Yumi. He doesn't let her in on anything going on in his head right now. He doesn't explain the thousands of threads forming in his mind about what Ashford may be plotting, what she might be planning.

Instead, John only looks back at Chouko in confusion, addressing her. "What exactly are you thinking, Ashford? What reason do you have to surrender...?"

Chouko takes a deep breath, grumbling from the bile simmering in her throat. "Hmm. Well. I suppose if I had to pinpoint my exact reason, it's because... in the nicest way possible, I don't care about a single one of you."

Silence fills the room.

John is trying to make sense of what this has to do with Ashford's supposed willingness to surrender. "You're surrendering because you don't... care about us...?"

"Yes."

"Huh." John is squinting his eyes. He's unsure how to interpret this information. Knowing Ashford, 'not caring about someone' has layers to it.

Yumi, meanwhile, can only see one layer. To Yumi, not caring about someone can only mean that they don't care, that there's no value in said someone. "The... The hell do you mean, 'in the nicest way possible'? What part of that were we to take nicely?" Yumi asks with a judgmental look on her face, offended and confused about what this girl is going on about.

"Well, it's nice because none of you are on my radar," Chouko explains, her voice soulless as she looks over her shoulder at the three other people in the room. "Not caring about you is a good thing. You are all right to assume the worst. I have already proven what I can do if any of you pose a threat to me."

Suddenly, John and Yumi feel chills go down their spines. The room goes dark for just a split second, then goes back to normal. The faint glimpses into their minds flash before their eyes in that very moment.

John takes this with the faintest clench of his teeth, while Yumi audibly gulps and lets go of the chair.

Chouko continues, twirling her finger in circles. "As someone who is being hunted by your kind—you mercenary types—I should be killing every... single... last... one of you right now. I could take you all out right now. But I'm not going to. I have no reason to. You've gained my mercy. I'm surrendering to people I neither love nor hate. I'm not going to do anything else but sit in that chair, allow you to patch me up, and let you send me on my merry way to whoever it is you're doing this for."

"Whoever it is you're—?" John repeats, blinking. The vagueness of that part catches his attention. "You're surrendering to people whose objectives you don't even know about?"

"Yes. I do know that you mercenaries are pursuing me," Chouko answers. "I have lost interest in knowing who it is that wants me. They're all the same, anyway."

John looks bewildered by this. Her words sound like she's grossly underestimating the Underworld's manhunt for her. "So you would admit defeat to people who may very well kill you?"

"Yes," Chouko answers.

"You honestly would let us turn you in for job listings that request your brutal demise?"

"If you so wish."

"What if their intentions are not specified, and you are put into a morally disgusting situation beyond what we know?"

"My problem to deal with."

Every response from Chouko sounds calm and unfazed. This is the woman who knows full well what she's getting into.

John is taken aback by this. She really is just giving up.

A lot of the thoughts repeat in his head again and again, as he's struggling with all his attention to understand Ashford's ulterior motives. This has to be an act, John constantly thinks again and again. There's absolutely no way that Chouko Ashford, the true identity of the Stalker of the Underworld, is surrendering this easily. This woman is deceitful, and everything she does is completely unknown to him.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Eventually, in this silence, when nothing has been said for quite some time, Chouko calmly starts taking steps towards John. She holds her hands up, arms bent into 90-degree angles as she approaches.

Yumi sees this. "Pops, she's getting closer!" she shouts.

"Let her..." John instructs, keeping a cautious look as Chouko walks closer.

"Why?! S-She's going to—!"

Chouko stands right in front of John, continuing to keep her hands up. Her eyes stare straight at his face instead of his hand.

The storage unit remains the same. Its lights are still present, and no inch of it is engulfed in some supernatural darkness. Chouko Ashford isn't doing what her ability did minutes ago.

Instead, it does something smaller.

"... Can you hear me?"

John blinks as he hears these words. It echoes in his ears as some distorted voice that sounds like it's coming from several miles away.

"I can...?" John responds.

"Good," the voice repeats, as Chouko blinks her eyes a couple of times. The voice comes closer, and it becomes very noticeable that Ashford is speaking. "Do not say what I am telling you out loud. This is for your ears only."

Chouko does not move her mouth. This is when John realizes that Chouko's using some psychic mind-reading technique to communicate with him. Telepathy.

He doesn't question it at first. Ashford has proven capable of worse things, so the inoffensive act of telepathy isn't bothering him.

Then, he thinks about that again. Telepathy.

Telepathy?

John's eyes widen. He wonders, is she reading his—

"My real reason for surrendering," Chouko interrupts, continuing to project her words while her mouth remains closed, "is that you will take the android under your care."

John blinks a couple of times. An eyebrow raises, and his eyes look over to Shortcake.

Shortcake is staring at the two with confusion, her hands folded together while fiddling with her thumbs. Pure unease is on her artificial face, with mortified concern and overwhelming worry oozing from her expression. She hasn't said or done anything. She's just standing there, completely out of the way.

"You're going to keep the android, and raise her like your daughter, Popovic..." Chouko demands. "Take her off my hands. Then you can sell me."

John looks back at Chouko. John wants to ask why. John wants to know why that, specifically, is Ashford's objective. Most notably, he wonders if she can directly hear his thoughts.

...

There's no response.

Chouko doesn't project her voice. She continues to stare at John, acting as if she's waiting for a response.

Ashford cannot fully read my mind.

So... John speaks out loud, choosing to be vague in case the android can hear. "You... want me to do that?"

Chouko nods. "Yes," her voice projects. "That is what I want."

John feels a chill on the back of his throat upon hearing Chouko's response. "Why?"

"... I was tasked with delivering her to a seller who wants her in mint condition. I have failed," Chouko explains, her eyes narrowing in shame as she looks to the side. "Shortcake has nowhere to go, but she has grown fond of you and Yumi, believing you two to be good guys... which is why, if I am going to die, if I am going to surrender, I am making you take her off my hands."

John stares at Ashford as she thinks this, taking a deep breath in. Something about that motivation sounds honest and genuine. Even someone as deceitful as Ashford comes off as a saint when protecting someone as... innocent... as Shortcake.

"... Do you truly trust me with such a request?" John whispers, looking at Chouko.

"Ultimately, you are the only person I can trust," Chouko projects, turning her back to John. Her arms slowly lift, and she puts her wrists together behind her head. "You protected her from me when I was a threat. You are the only one capable of caring for her. Please."

John stares for a while, almost feeling the hairs on his beard stand up from the tension in the room. His eyes look to Ashford's shoulder, remembering the wound that Yumi had to treat.

For one quick moment, John looks to the other three in the room. The blood doctor and the blood supplier are still on the floor, while Yumi is standing cautiously. He needs to be careful.

"Do I have your word that you will comply with my terms?" John asks.

Chouko continues to face away from him, deciding to speak. "Yes."

"All of them?"

"Of course. If I have your word in return, I... will do whatever it takes."

"..."

John takes a deep breath, trying to swallow the sour taste in his mouth. The light in his hands disappears, and he rests a hand on the side of Chouko's wrists... grabbing them and starting to walk forward.

This sounds too good to be true, but...

The two walk back to the chair where Ashford was being operated on, and John puts her back down in the seat.

Yumi immediately backs away and stands to the side, gaining some distance from Ashford. "Pops, we're still going to treat her?"

"Yes," John answers. "We're going to make sure she survives. We now have a deal beneficial to us."

Kusuri, still on the ground in the mess of blood and saline, looks up to John. He's extremely determined not to treat Chouko any further, and he's about to refuse to—

"Twenty thousand dollars," John speaks up.

Kusuri stops. "... H-How much?"

"... Twenty thousand," John repeats, looking down at Ashford. "Out of Ashford's own pocket."

Chouko audibly scoffs at this. "Very well." She pulls her own hand out of John's grasp to reach for something.

"So. Will you accept...?" John asks the doctor.

The doctor slowly looks to Ashford, mortified terror still in his face as he stares at the girl. It takes him ages to recover, to... regain composure. $20k is about ten times the average blood transfusion cost, and it's being added onto what the Serbian Flashbang already paid him. The high cost is... fundamentally payment for the psychological damage.

Kusuri eventually nods in acceptance. "I... I shall. I will need to get a replacement blood pack, however, as..." Kusuri looks down at the blood puddle. "... the blood beneath is no good. Grayson definitely has spares, so I will need additional costs to—"

"Fine," John tells Kusuri. "Just take care of it."

Kusuri nods, and... goes to Grayson, checking on the near comatose man. Grayson is still on his knees and suffering from what Ashford did to him. The man takes a moment to escort Grayson out of the room, back to his vehicle.

"Yumi, go help him," John instructs, looking to Yumi with a calm expression. "I suspect he will need help with heavy lifting."

"... 'Kay. If you say so." Yumi responds, slowly starting to follow after the two. She has a cautious look on her face and briefly looks back at John before heading out.

John nods slowly. The truth is, he's sending Yumi out to get a moment alone with Ashford and the android, as well as making her get out of range in case Ashford's ability acts up again. He's confident that Chouko Ashford means what she says, and he chooses to trust her.

On that note, as Yumi's out of the room, Chouko lets out a sigh. "Shortcake," Chouko speaks up, staring at the android. "Can you get my phone?"

"Y-Your phone?" Shortcake asks, blinking a couple of times as she looks around. "O-Oh... your phone..." The android walks over to pick it up from the floor, then walks over and hands it to Chouko.

Chouko opens it up, then holds it up to John. "Payment."

John nods. The technology in his arm is still a little unstable from the earlier fight, but it's in good enough condition to receive e-currency. He holds the palm gently against the front of the phone, accepting the payment.

"S-So, uhm... w... what happens now?" Shortcake asks, looking at the two. "Is... Is Chouko going to—"

"We'll figure that out once we're done here," Chouko calmly answers. "For now, I'm going to be patched up, and we're sticking with John for a while."

"Oh, okay... I... alright..." Shortcake nervously responds, walking to the corner of the unit to take her seat.

John looks over to Shortcake as the android walks, thinking about the situation for a while. "Roxie, you don't need to—"

The payment comes in.

John goes silent as his cybernetics start to speak, notifying him of the payment. In his ears, a virtual assistant speaks the text out loud, reading the important text out loud...

... and he violently coughs upon hearing the amount.

"What the...?!" John shouts, staring at Ashford.

"H-Huh?! What is it?!" Shortcake exclaims in concern. "Is something wrong?!"

John doesn't hear Shortcake. Rather, she stares down at Ashford in sheer disbelief, trying to make sense of what his virtual assistant told him. "Are you... Are you serious?"

"... I have no use for it," Chouko calmly tells him. She closes the phone and pockets it, sitting back. "Have it all, Mr. Popovic."

Have it all, she says.

All twenty billion of it.

Twenty.

Billion.

Dollars.

John's breath is heavy. He lets go of Chouko's arms, a cold sweat trailing down his face. Twenty billion dollars. That's about... a little under a hundred thousand Lamborghinis, approximately.

This is astounding.

In their peace and quiet, John calmly looks down at Ashford, leaning in close to a whisper. "Where... did you get all of this...?"

"... Underworld," Chouko explains.

"That can't be it. If I recall, you're some... forgotten rich British girl," John whispers. "Didn't you gain any of the wealth from—?"

"All of it is from the Underworld," Chouko explains, in full honesty. "I only spent enough to buy one instant noodle cup a day, with water bottles for refreshments. In conditions where I need to freshen up, motel room stays in hidden areas are $50."

"Holy shit..." John mumbles. "You are quite, how you say... frugal..."

"Well..." Chouko mumbles, her eyes narrowing. "... Father did teach me some good habits."

"..."

John has to take this in for a moment.

He's being told that he now has a captive woman who, apparently, has given him all of her wealth. The reason that John and Yumi were on Ashford's tail to begin with was an initial total "betting pot of five billion" across different clients. Here Ashford is, with four times that amount in her phone alone.

Ashford's been more than capable of surviving the Underworld so far with her ability. She has the endurance to deal with three bleeding gunshot wounds. She's lived a life of minimal waste, enjoying the littlest of rations and demanding no comforts.

In every sense of the word, Chouko Ashford is a powerful asset.

... and John responds accordingly.

"... Ashford," John calmly says, uneasily staring at Chouko as she rests in the seat. "Are you absolutely... c... certain of this? You are fully set on being a prisoner, of being sold off to who I see fit, of succumbing to the fate of death... if not worse?"

Chouko nods slowly. "Yes."

John nods. "Then... if it's all the same to you, I'm no longer selling you."

"...?"

Chouko raises an eyebrow at this, in disbelief.

"You heard me..." John answers to confirm that she didn't mishear him. "You are, how you say, a 'golden goose'. One does not kill it. The Underworld shall not take you."

"What? Then... what exactly are you going to do?"

"What else? You agreed to give your fate to me. You're working for me now, Ashford. You're now officially under my employ," John answers.

Chouko starts to sweat, an uncomfortable look on her face. "You... You're—"

"Is that not what you agreed to? To be used as I see fit?" John asks, staring at Ashford. "This is a far more beneficial arrangement. Consider this 'being sold to me', being put under my care, joining your android and getting to live your life as free as we do."

The two are left in silence as Chouko stares, as she's being told that John has no intentions on claiming her supposed bounty. She's now to be an asset to him... to work for him. The truce is now becoming a partnership, an indefinite ally rather than a temporary compliance.

John has a bit of greed in his eyes, as this is the best outcome. If Ashford's earned $20 billion from Underworld work alone, then she can earn $20 billion more under his arm. Split between three people, four if we include Roxie, it's $5 billion...

This is the most valuable partnership John will ever have in his life.

"So? What will it be?" John asks.