V for Vaporous

V for Vaporous

The streets of the old part of the city still reminded Even Ghetting of Nazi occupied Germany as she half walked, half danced, half yodeled along the way to her destination where she would meet her friend from work for a cocktail or two. That night seemed really dreary and so she started to walk a little faster. She heard footsteps behind her, and suddenly three really ugly men confronted her about her being out after curfew. She fell to her knees and cried "Oh no, I did it again! I slipped back in time to World War II and the first thing I encounter are the leftover experiments from Hitler's nightmare zombies who smell like gas fumes, death camps, and fishermen!"

For a moment the men were caught off guard but laughed as they advanced on poor Even, attempting to do her harm. Just then a cloaked, shadowy figure in a Guy Fawkes mask leapt from nowhere and began quoting Shakespeare. That was what Even thought at first, but she paid no attention as she had the distraction she needed to get her balance. While the cloaked man continued to speak, and continued to capture the men's attention, she suddenly struck one of them from behind with a miniature frying pan that she carried with her in her handbag. For a moment the strange man stopped talking and the other two men, after seeing what Even had done, hurled themselves toward her with their weapons drawn.

The cloaked man began fighting the other two until they were unconscious. Even breathed a sigh of relief and said "Das ist gut, ja?" The stranger held his head sideways then spoke softly to her as he extended his hand, "I'm most humbled to make your acquaintance, my lady. My name is V."

Even took his hand and smiled. "Do you yodel?" She asked. V seemed perplexed by her question but she said to nevermind and picked up her frying pan and placed it back into her bag.

"You know, V. . .this place is a disaster. More like a war zone. Without the bombers. Or the big band music, or the jazz, or the big banners. This is twilight zone for the actual Twilight Zone."

"You seem to recall the time around 1943 Nazi Germany, does this place remind you of that era?" V asked her.

"Yeah, in a way. Well, without the charm. On the plus side there are three lumps of useless idiot lying on the ground. I'd take a picture if I had a camera."

V invited Even to the roof of a nearby building to watch a concerto.

"Will there be refreshments? Trains? Showers?" She asked.

 

After making their way to the rooftop of the building where the concerto would be witnessed, V flung one side of his cloak over his shoulder and chuckled. He could tell this lady was the sort that must have lived through some of the worst of times and either learned to not give any fucks, or her humor was a way to cope with stress.

"I have not learned your name, yet. May I ask who you are?"

Even looked over the side of the building. Then she backed away from the ledge.

"Are you afraid of heights?" V asked.

"Only afraid of heights when they are below me. When they're at the same level as me, then no. Is this a trick question?"

Even adjusted her coat. "Anyway my name is Even. Even Ghetting."

She couldn't tell if he was smiling or confused because of his mask but she liked to guess that he was probably a bit of both.

"You should see how that looks on forms where they ask for a last name first." She giggled.

 

V looked across at the Old Bailey from the rooftop where they stood. He produced a wand and began conducting music that was, at first very faint. Even couldn't hear it at first but didn't want to spoil the mood, so she she opted to play an air flute. But then the music began to grow louder. "Hey, now that's a sound." She smiled as she mimicked a disco move. V began to conduct in a more vigorous manner until the music built up and reached a crescendo bringing the whole building of the Old Bailey down in a fiery explosion. With fireworks.

Even stood stunned and motionless as she watched the fire devour the dismal old structure. At last she breathed in, a very long and deep breath and let it out as if in meditation. V noticed her calm appearance and asked what she thought of that. She slowly looked over at her date for the night, after the show he'd promised and sighed while closing her eyes. "That was good." V smiled, from underneath his masked smile. "That's what I needed. The fire, the flames, the music into a deafening explosion and then," she continued "everyone running around in chaos wondering what the fuck just happened."

 

The next day Even was at work, in the usual routine of her ho-hum job. She cracked jokes of there being bombs in the shipment to the studio where she delivered the packages. Then she wondered how far she could push these limits. She then wondered if maybe bombs were a bit too obvious. She thought about the fun that could be had with simpler methods of controlled destruction, like large insects made of realistic textures, and super gorilla glue. But she knew she was beyond bored and last night was like a step into another dimension. She couldn't help but wonder what the intro music of the Twilight Zone would be like before an explosion. She kept her musings hidden well while pretending to hear the off color jokes around the office. There were a few people there that she just did not like. They were loud, rude, and downright ugly.

The off color jokes were usually being told by those which she didn't like and so she went through a myriad of ideas of how to turn the tables on them. After so many years, her patience was gone. It just hadn't manifested into anything as of yet. The plastic bugs would be a good start, she figured, so she spent about fifteen minutes making a handful out of contents she'd found in her desk. She really wanted to scare the security man that liked to come in everyday and check on everyone. Dassdumb was hired by the state run BTNT, (Boring Television Number Two) located at the Jordache Tower, and operated in the same security agency as Mr. Flinch. Even didn't mind Flinch so much, she always thought it was cute that he had a mild case of twitch. But Dassdumb really irritated her.

Even's creation of fake bugs looked scary enough. They were large, wiry, and a bit gnarled with what appeared to be the texture of a spider. She giggled softly to herself.

Suddenly an uproar of confusion filled the halls. People were running all over the place and screaming. Someone had just taken the BTNT hostage. Alarms were ringing everywhere. Even wasn't having any of this. She began breaking open glass cases that contained fire fighting tools and started throwing them at anything that looked like a fire. After putting out the lights, the table lamps, and the On Air signs above a few doors, she started to run for an exit. But she opted to hide under her desk instead. A television broadcast had went out by way of V. He was the one who took the network hostage.

Even emerged out from under her desk to watch his announcement. It was the first good thing on TV, she thought. V spoke to the people. His speech was like a breeze from a world where there was life, where things weren't so gray, horrible, dreary, and boring.

After the speech ended, she grabbed her fake bugs and went to look for Dassdumb.

V had fought off a horde of security guards and policemen and was just about to get away when Dassdumb cut him off in the main hallway. Holding V at gunpoint, he started telling him how he and the agency were already so many steps ahead of V, and basically lying about his and his agency's efficiency. Even was coming out of a door located in the same hallway and overheard his boasting. She scowled as she walked up right behind him. She carried her handbag and as always, within it was her frying pan. Dassdumb hadn't noticed but V was looking straight at her. His mask was able to hold Dassdumb's gaze as he couldn't see V's eyes or what they might focus on. But instead of grabbing her frying pan, she got as close as she could right behind Dassdumb and at that same time of letting out a blood-curdling scream she let her handful of bugs fly up from her fist and scared Dassdumb within an inch of his life. He screamed and ran toward one side of the hallway looking at what he thought were spiders. V grabbed Dassdumb by the neck as Even laughed hysterically and asked him why he was such a dumbass for falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book. Enraged he flung his arm out in her direction, and with his gun hand, struck her on her head causing her to fall down and hit the floor. V reacted by knocking him unconscious.

 

For a moment he looked at the spiders and realized they were fake. Deep inside he was grateful for that.

 

Even awoke with a nasty bruise on her head. She climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Half asleep she leaned while she walked against the wall of a place she had never been or seen before. She felt around for the door, and bumped into a large painting instead, causing it to swing back and forth.

"Why the fuck did I put that there for?"

V heard her shuffling around and went to her. He saw her feeling around on the wall for a doorknob.

"Are you okay?" He asked her in a very soft voice.

"No. I can't find my bathroom. A long hallway, a mysterious painting, on a path for water things, in the Twilight Zone. . ." she muttered.

"It's over here." V took her to the restroom of his large underground abode.

Even found her way back to the bed she was sleeping in and fell back into it and laid there for ten minutes wondering where she was. Then jumped up and headed out of the room.

Finding V, who was standing at a modest record player listening to an album of soft music.

"I'm not really awake yet, but where am I?"

"You're at my place. After that security guard assaulted you, I had to rescue you or you would have ended up in one of Greedy's interrogation cells." V told her. "But don't worry now. You are quite safe here."

Even looked around again. "What about my place? Did Greedy blow it up? Did you blow it up? Did I blow it up?" Even asked. V was at a loss for words. "I wouldn't call my place anything other than a room, a hole in the wall truth be known. I had some things in there, though. I need to go and collect them." Even stated.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. They're watching your place now, and you would be apprehended if you went there now." V said.

Even paced a few times, scratching her head. Then threw up her arms. "Oh great!" She exclaimed. "That means they went through my things!"

"Did you have anything of much value?" V asked concerned.

"Well. I was collecting all those IDs from co-workers. I had some cans where I stuffed some gag snakes that pop out, stuff like that. But I have my handbag with me so I still have my frying pan." Even said in a matter-of-fact way.

"IDs?" V asked. Just then Even motioned to him to hang on a second and a few moments later came back out to the music room and sat down and looked through her bag. "Oh thank God!" She sighed. She pulled out a little zipper bag filled with all the IDs she had stolen from her work. "They're always issued new IDs in case they get lost or stolen. I took that as a sign that IDs can be lost as well as stolen. So I collected all these." She fanned them out as V sat next to her. She showed them to him as he took a look at each one.

"You are resourceful." He smiled at her.

"Nah, I just did it to get to them. And also because they leave stuff laying around and I'm the poor soul who has to pick up after everyone. And get coffee and snacks for the boss. And have to be there when deliveries come in, as if I work there or something."

V drew his head back, and looked back at Even and told her that she did work there.

"Oh yeah. I'm not really awake yet. I'm gonna go take a nap."

V stood and took her hand and asked her if she wanted something to eat first.

"That sounds good. My head hurts." She said.

"You have an injury, I'll take of care of you, just take it easy for a few days." V told her.

"A few days?" She asked looking around. "I'm thinking I could sleep for a month."

Even went back to her room and changed into some of the clothes left there for her. She came into the kitchen where V was cooking. He had left his gloves on the table as he cooked. When Even came into the kitchen she noticed his hands, to which he quickly slipped his gloves back on.

"I'm sorry about that." V said as he went back to frying some breakfast. Even walked up to the stove. "Sorry? What is there to be sorry about? Look at that frying pan! I love it! Where did you get that?"

Later that evening V and Even were seated in his little room where he keeps his television set. It was a small screen but got amazingly good reception. The evening news came on and Even really didn't want to watch it. V insisted she watch this time.

"I work around those people, believe me, they are insane. They have no talent, and they do crazy things." Even insisted back.

 

The television blared about the explosion at the Jordache Tower and mentioned V as a terrorist.

"Last week it was a tanked out, drugged up chili-hombre terrorist. Now this." Even scoffed. Then they went into some other inane spiel about their great leader Adam Slutler.

"Nothing about the bugs! Not one, single, mention!" Even was beyond annoyed at this. "I gotta grab something to drink." She said as she headed for the kitchen. After admiring the frying pans, she heard music and went toward the sound. She found V standing next to an impressive stereo system, listening to a CD of classical masterpieces.

"Nice." Even said, drinking her ice water.

 

The next evening, V and Even were seated at the kitchen table.

"I have an engagement I must follow through on, what ID might I use to gain access to a men named Prathetico?" V asked her, hoping she would have an idea. As it turned out, Even had an excellent idea.

"There's this guy at work who's always snitching on others for small things, like stealing coffee mugs, staplers, and raiding the fridge. His ID is the one with the snarky guy in a toupee." Even said with a gleam in her eye. "Of course he also made a big deal of his ID being stolen every time it turned up missing." Even shrugged.

V had already planned on Prathetico's demise, so this would simply make it easier. Even handed him a few more IDs and told him to do with them what he wished, but in return she wanted to watch The Twilight Zone and her choice of frying pans from wherever he got his. V agreed. With a big smile, of course.

Upon entering the main door of Prathetico's living quarters, V used the ID he had readied. It didn't work. Turned out that Mr. Snarky Toupee apparently wasn't liked well enough by Prathetico to be granted access. So V tried another. It failed. He paused and looked at the ID cards he had with him. He wisely chose the one with an attractive woman pictured. He tried it and it gained him access. V very methodically carried out his plan and left the building. A dead Prathetico lay on the floor in a pathetic heap of sogginess.

When the police arrived, hours later, they looked at who attempted entry and came up with several names that showed up right at that time.

"There were apparently three of them. We'll need to find and question all three suspects. This is serious. Prathectico apparently had a lot of people out to get him." Flinch explained to Dassdumb.

"But why would all three of them need their company IDs to gain access if they were all in on it?" Dassdumb questioned the logic being used here. Flinch twitched and shook his head, not knowing the answer to that.

"It makes no sense, I know. But we have three suspects."

 

V's next target was an old perverted bishop. He explained to Even what this man and his church were doing and getting away with. Even was disgusted and wanted V to smash the bastard. V asked her if she would assist him in his plot.

"I don't know. Maybe. Can I dress up like you?" She asked.

"No. You'll have to wear something that would attract his attention." V answered.

Even winced.

 

Hours later Even found herself waiting in a very ornately decorated bedroom, dressed in a sort of doll styled costume. She had of course slipped into a denim jacket and wore her hair piled up in a bun since the ponytails were too much for her after she was left in the room alone. She hid something beneath her skirt. A small sodbuster blade in a sheath fastened around her upper thigh. Under the bottom hem of her top, she concealed a small pouch of garlic powder and small shards of broken glass. In one of her shoes, she slipped in a ziplock baggie of little fuzzy bits that she managed to sew cut pipe-cleaner bits into so that they looked like a cross between deformed spiders and fat fire-ants. She was very uncomfortable with the shoe because the baggie was a bit thick under her foot that was squeezed into the shoe. V was waiting nearby. She remembered her part and went over to the window to unlock it. Walking back over to the center of the room to begin her act, she waited for the perverted bishop to enter.

"I'm not waiting in here all day, goddamnit!" Even said loudly enough to be heard down the hall. Just then the infamous bishop opened the door and his serf closed it behind him. He stood for a moment and gazed at Even and approached her. "You are lovely, my child. To think I doubted your beauty..." he began.

"Yeah yeah, can the balloon juice, Gramps. Isn't there something you're wanting me to do to you?" Even said sitting down on the bed.

"Oh my, you're so bold. What would you like to do to me?" The bishop asked with a very excited smile.

Even looked at him, it was subtle at first but the glaring look became obvious as he looked at her face. His smile disappeared, and he knew something was up he hadn't counted on.

V had waited for the exact moment when he'd make his appearance and he leapt from the roof onto the balcony of the bishop's room like a caped ninja. He heard some commotion coming from within the room and went through the unlocked window. As he stepped in, he stopped short of his tracks and Even thought she heard him gasp.

 

What V saw was Even standing over the bed with a rope, some duct tape and a broken lamp stand with sparks still flying out of it. The bishop was duct taped to one of the bed posts, with one side of his head covered in what appeared to be fuzzy bugs glued onto it and a few pillow tassels thrown in. A look of terror, his face white, covered in a few bruises and blood, looking as if he was dragged through a salad bar, with eyes locked in a stare of shock. V walked over to the bishop and felt for a pulse. He was definitely dead. "Heart attack." V said nonchalantly. Even shrugged, and gave a little whistle. "Well, I didn't know he had a bad ticker." She said as she casually rolled her eyes and began gathering her bag and preparing to leave. V motioned to the window, "I must leave, you take the back entrance, meet me where we agreed alright?" As V took one last look at what he planned to be his task to dispose of, he caught a whiff of something. "Is that garlic?"

 

Even was already booking out onto the streets as sirens were heard. V had escaped too. She stopped by the corner of a building and put on a pair of dark sunglasses. As a police truck rolled by, it slowed down to examine who was standing on the corner. Even grabbed a cigarette. "You gotta light, or are you stupid?" The truck picked up speed and drove off.

 

After four hours, V had given up on Even showing up where he had told her to meet him. Little did he know that Even simply got lost and made her way to her friend's house. Diet-Rite was the star of the BTNT and had a semi popular hit show on the network. V found that she was indeed there after searching for her. V couldn't just knock on the door and ask for Even so he waited for another time when he could approach. Diet-Rite offered her a place to stay the night and she slept in one of his spare rooms. When she woke next morning he was making her breakfast. She told him that she was to meet someone last night but got lost. Diet-Rite asked her how she got lost. She told him that she didn't know where the pub in the moors was located at.

"I wasn't about to go out to Scotland, where there are actual moors, risking werewolf attacks and drunk men in skirts." She pointedly said.

After some small talk, Even learned that there was a pub in London that was named The Moors. Shrugging it off, she figured she could just go there when night falls and see if V would show. She'd ask the barkeep if he'd seen a guy in a mask and a cape. She knew it would be futile as the meeting place would have been in the back somewhere out of sight. But she figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

"By the way, they wear kilts, not skirts." Diet-Rite informed her. "Okay. But their music is hard to yodel to." Even quipped.

 

So that night she went to the club. Looking around for V. Then without warning she was captured by the police. A black bag was put over her head and she found herself locked in a dreary old cell. She was definitely hating this.

 

The interrogation lights on her made it impossible to see who her accuser was that sat across the table and questioned her. The detective sat in a shadow that all she could see was a silhouette.

"I'll ask you again, where is the man who is known by the code name V?"

Even stretched a bit and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Do you have a pain killer? Anything for a headache? This chair is painful, where the hell did you get it? A landfill?" She said mockingly.

"Answer the question!" The man in the shadow yelled.

"Look, the man was dead when I got there!" She answered him thinking that was where the line of questioning was really going.

"What do you mean? There was a bishop that was killed the night before." He said. Even shrugged. "I came in to clean up the place, at first he just seemed so busy, I paid no attention. He seemed to be tied up at the moment." Even snickered a little.

The detective who was really V wanting to find out where Even had been all night and if she contacted any authorities during her absence from him, had went over the events in his mind and the thought nagged at him that Even would be the last person to rat him out. After all she was un-phased by the whole affair and she did seem to possess an attitude of giving no fucks. But he had to be sure.

"I'm going to show you something." He said as he got up, left her cell and locked it behind him. Even sat back in her chair, rested her feet on the table and closed her eyes to grab a little nap.

Ten minutes later the shadowy detective woke his guest with the rattle of keys in the cell door. He brought a monitor in and sat it on the table and instructed her to watch.

"I need you to see this. It's a film of an execution by firing squad, where a condemned man is to be shot dead."

Even sat up and rubbed the back of her neck, looking tired. "What? No popcorn to go with this?" She said disappointed.

"Now watch." V turned the monitor on and the scene played out. Even smiled to see the firing squad were wearing uniforms instead of cloaks and hoods. "This is nice, just regular guys with guns. No skulls and bones for fashion accessories, so far it's all normal-like." She paused and looked over at the silhouette in the dark. "I mean, you know, for an execution where they kill somebody."

Even watched as a line of men who were wearing drums began to roll out the drum call.

"Oh look!" Even exclaimed. "They even have drummers out there playing the intro before killing that guy. That is so cute."

V stood up suddenly, turning off the monitor.

"I want you to take this seriously! This can happen to you, if they find you've been in any way aiding and abetting the terrorist known as V!"

Even was still looking at the monitor. "You turned it off right before the best part!" Even said back.

"Then you haven't spoken to anyone about V?" He asked in a gentle tone.

"Nah. I was out wondering around after I got lost, so I figured I'd explore before crashing at Diet-Rite's house." Even told him. V walked out of the cell leaving it open so Even could follow him into his main living quarters.

As they walked toward the kitchen, Even grabbed a blanket as she passed the sofa and wrapped it around herself. Her doll costume that she still wore underneath her jacket caused her to get the chills.

"I'll make you something to eat, go on and take a shower and get into something warm." V said taking her hand and kissing it.

 "That sounds good, and that cell, it needs furniture. A bed, and a sofa, and a TV. Oh and some curtains." Even informed him.

"Why? Your old room is still there for you."

"Yeah just letting you know how awful the decor is back there in the jail cell area. Although the square footage does have possibilities. Maybe you can use them as extra storage?" Even said as she headed toward her room. "Oh and..." She turned around, "I didn't get to see the ending of the movie you were showing me. I'll need to see that after dinner."

V stood there hand on counter, head slightly bowed, as he wondered quietly to himself and shaking his head, half laughing and half in astonishment.

Even and V sat at his table talking after dinner. Even rummaged through her bag as he spoke of his plans against the evil Slutler and his henchmen.

"Oh good!" Even exclaimed with excitement. "I still have my sunglasses!"

"I'm going into the supply warehouses tomorrow, if you'd like to join me." V said.

"Are there any supplies left of the frying pans?"

"I believe so. Get some sleep. We head out at o dark thirty."

For some reason it took them all day to get to the secret warehouses that V had planned on extracting supplies from. Even went through some boxes and found lots of cigarettes and tobacco products. V gathered explosives and weapons. He admired a few edged weapons he'd found in a crate. As Even looked into the boxes stacked behind the cigarettes, her eyes fell on a sight she hadn't expected. She smiled with a look of sheer delight. She climbed down off the boxes and sat down lighting a cigarette.

"I didn't know you smoked." V said with a bit of a laugh.

"I don't." Even answered as she indicated the boxes behind her. "I figured I could have a regular cigarette for now, to get a feel for lots of smoke since there will be a lot of it come November 5th when you blow shit up." Even said matter-of-fact.

"You'll be at a safe distance." He assured her.

"Oh my goodness, thank God for that." Even said mockingly.

"Why, what would you do otherwise?" V wondered.

"Well," Even began with an emphasis on the word. "I was thinking it might need more."

"More of what?" V looked at her, interested in what she was getting at.

"I have an idea. And don't laugh because I think it would work. To a degree, that is." Even said as she puffed her cigarette and gave a small cough.

She made a small path to the boxes stacked behind by pushing the cigarette boxes aside with her foot and knee. She held the cigarette in her mouth and pulled down a very large box that was apparently fairly light. It hit the concrete floor with a dull, soft thud.

Even opened it and revealed to V a shitload of whacky-tobaccy.

"We can rig this to burn up with whatever fires would be left from the explosions, and we can plant this stuff to go off at different points around the city with nothing more than electric shorts in the grid structure to release its aroma." She said as she pinched a small bit from the giant sack it was contained in. Both her and V took a sniff.

"That is quality stuff." V said with what easily could be detected as a bit of laughter.

It took a bit of time to load up the supplies and the cargo of cannabis onto the underground railroad cart that V had used to get to the underground warehouses.

"It's almost time to go." V motioned to another section of the chamber they stood in. Even went to inspect and there they were, stainless steel kitchen stacking shelves loaded with brand new skillets, pots, and baking ware. Even's face lit up as she muttered "God, this gravy train!" and held her arms up to take in the vision of all those kitchen wares that among them were abundant with frying pans.

"God, is in the rain?" V asked, mishearing what she said.

"Huh? Oh nevermind, I was just talking about cooking." Even walked over to the nearest rack and grabbed four skillets, a French pot, and a few blunt-looking spatulas.

For the first time V had truly seen her happy and radiant. But he knew she was planning on helping him destroy Parliament and he knew there would have to be an adjustment of his original plans since she had entered into the picture.

That night as they had dinner V told her of his plans to have his vendetta against his tormentors and the true evil masters of this dark world they inhabited. He wanted to complete his mission without her being in harm's way. However he would promise her that he was going to let her be a part of the final stage of the vendetta as it involved blowing up Parliament. She agreed to this. So V carried out his revenge against the others on his time and she got busy setting up the surprise party that would release its potent smoky haze all over London.

The following nights they went about their individual tasks and while the rest of the city appeared to continue on with a grey, dull, and cheerless atmosphere, Even was humming to herself more often. Singing. And yodeling much more. At times strangers would look at her as she passed them by, but she would yodel and carry on and sometimes she'd quote the intro of The Twilight Zone just for fun.

The night of November 4th came and V found that his plan to gather Slutler and his henchmen into an abandoned area of an old subway station had succeeded. Even came through the tunnel passage where V had prepared to meet his enemies in the dismal and darkened station. "There's a problem." Even said to him as he turned back for a moment. "The transformers in areas 3 and 4 have been offline. What to do?" V gave her a remote controlled device that would kick on once the fireworks began. She took it and hurried back down the main tunnel. V looked after her as she ran down the tracks. He felt he was going to die and that this was probably the last he would ever see her again. He stood and took the moment in before she disappeared from his sight and as he stood there in silence he heard, very faintly, the echo of her yodeling.

He went on and appeared through an archway where his enemies waited.

There the evil Greedy brought Slutler in and held him down at the feet of V. The plan was that Greedy would be able to take V in as a captive if he'd do away with Slutler. As V stood face-to-mask with Greedy, Slutler began to whimper as V approached. "At last, we finally meet. I have something for you, Chancellor. A farewell gift. For all the things you've done, might have done, and for the only thing you have left." He said as placed a rose in the suit jacket that Slutler wore. "Goodbye, Chancellor." V stepped back. "Mr. Greedy." V said as he walked away from Slutler. Greedy took out a gun and killed Slutler. In the distance Even heard the gunshot and stopped in her tracks. Looked at the remote she held and wondered what to do.

Back at the abandoned station area V stood among a dozen men who were all uniformed and pointing their guns at him.

"Now that's done with. It's time to have a look at your face. Take off your mask." Greedy asked grimly.

"No" was the short answer from V. Greedy motioned to his henchmen to begin their attack on V. At first two of them approached him and tried to remove V's mask only to be quickly killed by a few moves and V's precise aim with his daggers as he swung around. Even had slipped into the area and managed to stay unseen. Pulling out two frying pans from her pack that she carried, she waited for the right moment. After words were exchanged between V and Greedy, and hearing that V believed he would be dead along with Greedy, she almost sprung into action, but waited. As Greedy was about to take aim at V, he flinched as a tiny object flew past his nose. It was a lit joint she flung at him from across the darkness of where she stood by a wall. As Greedy turned his eyes away from V to inspect what the object was as he smelt the weed burning from its tip, he looked over at his men that stood in the direction it came from. V looked over in that direction too and knew Even had come back. Now he was in a dilemma. But before anyone could do anything, she flung the frying pans at Greedy and one of his men. They were knocked out cold. She ran back toward the tunnel. With that distraction V was able to easily overtake the other men with lightning speed and ninja reflexes. Soon they were all dead. V walked over to the unconscious Greedy and hung him up by the back of his neck onto the gate that closed off the area from the outside world. He would be there until the big bang.

 

V hurried back toward the tunnels and found Even ready to set the train into its fiery destination.

"Would you rather do this?" She asked him.

"If you want to, I give it freely, it's yours."

"Okie doke." She smiled. "I do love blowing shit up." As the train began to roll away, she stepped off and they watched it ride into the deeper tunnels where it would wind up right underneath Parliament and explode with enough C-4 and dynamite to take out the entire structure.

"Oh I almost forgot. I gotta get close enough for the rigging to pick up the signal from the remote." Even said as she hurried away. V followed. He figured with everyone else showing up with his black attire, cape, hat and mask he'd blend right in. Even launched the cannabis bombs that she'd planted around the perimeter of the city that would witness the big finale. Within moments the military that guarded the area were told to stand down as the people all dressed like V walked toward Parliament to watch the fireworks. And the fires. The entire structure of Parliament exploded and right on cue the fireworks were released with the explosion and a very noticeable heavy haze whiffed through the air. Like a thick fog of smoke it drifted everywhere. The people all gathered began to take off their masks and laugh. They laughed some more. The military were also smiling and laughing among themselves and started to disperse. There was singing and dancing all over the place. Some people were walking around inhaling deeply and trying to get more of the smoke into their lungs.

This was a party.

Back at V's place, V, Even, and Diet-Rite sat at a cozy little round table in a dim-lit nook. Diet-Rite was inhaling a joint deeply and after he did he offered it to V. Looking at V he realized that he couldn't smoke very well with the mask and all. So he reached over to Even and offered her a hit. She said she didn't smoke while she mimicked holding a cigarette with a bamboo fondue stirring stick.

"I hope you don't mind that I invited a few friends over for our little party." Even said to V as he looked around his place. A few people in V attire, holding their masks and sipping champagne, stood by his jukebox and were having a good time. A few military men were standing around talking to some young women who were showing off how nice they look in the capes they got. The jukebox played a soft jazz number as V sat in silence.

"Is there any other building of insignificance that needs to be wiped off the face of earth?" Even asked him. V didn't really have an answer. The jukebox began playing 'Yelling Timber' and everyone cheered and began to dance. The place was pumping.

Diet-Rite poured champagne in his glass and poured another glass and offered it to V. Again noticing that he couldn't drink with the mask he offered it to Even and they clinked glasses.

"Cheers!" They said.

The End