Do Not Touch Me!

Chapter 12: To bring down Argentine & Maxwell

Chapter 12: To bring down Argentine & Maxwell

"The operation has commenced, the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins are already infiltrating the cruise ship." It was Viveron's notification. Only I can hear her through the accessory earring on my right ear. Tahimik lang ako kasama ang ibang mga babaeng nakidnap. Nasa loob pa rin kaming lahat ng silid kung saan kami kinulong ng mga kalaban. It seems like the auction has started as well, since some of the ladies inside the room are being taken already through the opposite door of the big hall. I can also hear the noise from that portion. It seems like an emcee or a host, and they are saying key words like bid, twice, deal, seal, and all the likes.

Ramdam ko ang tensyon sa atmosphere ng paligid. Umiiyak din ang ibang mga babae ngayon. I wanted to comfort them all, but I was not good at it. Kaya nanatili lang akong nakapako sa aking pwesto.

"Mary, just stand by." It was Viveron.

I sighed and stayed still. My work is done. But I feel like I had to do something. Unti-unting nabawasan ang mga babae sa silid, it seems like more and more of us here were being sold for such high price. Halata rin ang tuwang nakapinta sa mukha at ekspresyon ng mga tauhang nagbabantay sa amin. I can hear millions already through the echoing blast of the speaker of the auction room part of the ship.

Matapos ang ilang sandali ay may isang lalakeng nakahawak ng baril ang lumapit sa akin. "Sumama ka sa akin." Utos nito sa akin. Unlike the other men, he was wearing a formal attire. A tuxedo. Doon ko lang din napansin na lahat kaming mga babae ay pareho ang suot na bestida. It was a white plain dress.

Hindi ako umimik at naglakad ako upang sundan ang lalake. Halatang nagtataka naman ito dahil kalmado lang ang aking ekspresyon, unlike the rest of the girls here. Ngunit hindi na lang niya iyon pinansin. We walked past several ladies who were looking at me with their teary-eyes. No one dared ro make a noise out of fear that they will be shot dead.

We crossed the door, at bumungad sa akin ang entablado. It seems like the room we were locked at was the backstage. Parang nabulag ang aking mga mata sa lakas ng spotlight na siyang tumama sa aking gawi. "Move," utos ng lalake sa akin sabay turo sa gitna ng entablado.

Sumunod na lang ako at dahan-dahang naglakad papunta sa gitna. My steps felt heavy, and even though I knew that my squad was here to save me and the rest of the girls as planned, I felt like something might go wrong. We can never be too complacent about certain matters, especially things like this that has our life on the line.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present you another beautiful maiden." It was the emcee that talked, his voice was loud and it was echoing in the entire auction room, like a ripple of the water. Tumingin ako sa mga audience at napansin na halos karamihan ay mga lalakeng may edad na. Nakasuot silang lahat ng maskara rin upang itago ang kanilang identity. "I must insist that this girl is the most beautiful among the rest of the ladies that we shall auction tonight, and thus, the starting bidding point will be higher than usual." Aniya, "let's start with twenty million."

Maraming mga lalake ang nagtaas ng kanilang kamay. Tumaas naman ang aking balahibo, though that was only metaphorical since I was wearing the transparent skin Dr. Achilles invented, hence, making it impossible, kapit na kapit din kasi ang transparent skin sa aking balat. I guess that is also why it seemed like I was glowing and had a perfect skin, It was because of that, to avoid accidentally killing someone.

Halatang natuwa ang emcee sa dami ng bidders ko, "going higher?" He insisted. "Twenty one million?" He added after.

Nabawasan ang nagtaas ng kamay, ngunit marami pa rin. Tahimik lang ang audience at walang nagsasalita. I can see the hunger and lust in the eyes of the men, though, bigla kong naisip, hindi ito ang unang beses na may auction para sa mga babae. Ano kaya ang sapalaran ng mga babaeng nauna bago ito? What happened to them? I did not want to think about it. Thinking about it sent anger to my heart.

Tinatrato nila ang mga babae na parang mga item, and somehow, that made me clench my fists.

"Twenty five million." The emcee added.

Nabawasan ang mga nagtaas ng kamay. I looked around, there were still ten who were fighting for me.

"Going twice now," ngumisi ang emcee, "fifty million." He grinned. I can see his thirst for money as well. Doon ko lang napansin na hindi lang basta-basta sino ang emcee, he must be the boss. Doon ko rin napansin ang insignia sa gilid ng kaniyang damit. It was the same insignia of the ship. He must be an Argentine. May mga guwardiya rin siya sa kaniyang tabi.

Dalawang mga kamay ang natitirang nakataas.

"State your price." The emcee told to the two remaining men. One was an old bald guy, and the other was someone who seems to be on his late 50s, and he was fat.

"Sixty million." The fat man stated.

"Sixty million and one pesos." The old guy smirked.

Tumawa naman ang lahat dahil sa saad ng matandang lalake.

Kumunot ang noo ng matabang lalake, "sixty million and one hundred thousand." He declared.

The old man shrugged, "seventy million."

Kumunot ang noo ng matabang lalake. It seems like he has given up the bid, kasabay nito ay nagkaroon ng tunog bilang senyales na tapos na ang bidding para sa akin.

"Seventy million, it is! Our highest bid so far," pumalakpak pa ang emcee sa tuwa habang sinasabi iyon. Kasabay nito ay biglang sumabog ang pinto sa dulo ng auction hall. My squad is here. Kasabay nito ay ang hiyawan at sigawan ng mga tao sa silid. Nagsitayuan at takbuhan ang lahat. Ang emcee naman at iba pang mga armadong tauhan ay agad na pumwesto at tinutok ang baril sa entrada ng silid, tila hinihintay kung sino man ang papasok.

Sina Sayuri at Shinigami ang nauna, sobrang bilis nila dahil sa kanilang ultra-speed, halos hindi na rin sila makita ng mga kalaban na nagpaputok. Tumama lang ang mga bala sa sahig at pader. Tumigil si Sayuri sa harap ng isang lalake at saka ito sinaksak gamit ang kaniyang dagger. Si Shinigami naman ay pumwesto sa may distansya at binaril din ang ibang mga kalaban. Humandusay ang kanilang mga bang,ay sa marmol na sahig.

Nakasuot ng maskara ang magkapatid, gayon din ang iba pang miyembro ng squad namin na ngayon ay naglalakad na papasok din sa silid.

"Sunhell, come along with me. Let us go save the ladies," Athanasius commanded, "the rest, take care of everything else." He added. Pagkatapos ay tumingin siya sa akin at ngumiti, "glad to see you are safe, Mary," he stated.

Tumango naman ako bilang senyales. Sobrang nakakabingi ang ingay sa auction room. It was a total disaster. Despite being outnumbered too, we kept our ground and were winning. I guess the difference between our skills and abilities is one to boost. They had power in numbers, we had supernatural powers.

I did not even need to move at all, nanood lang ako habang winawasak ang m******e ng mga kakampi ko ang mga kalaban. Athanasius and Sunhell walked past the stage, nanginginig lang din ang tunod ng emcee ngayon. Halatang hindi makapaniwala sa nangyayari.

"Monsters..." He stated.

"Damn right," ngumisi si Sayuri na ngayon ay biglang nasa harap ng emcee. Kasabay nito ay humandusay bigla ang katawan ng dalawang natitirang tauhan niyang nakabantay sa kaniya, may giit na ang mga leeg nito. She was super fast, and she was enjoying it. "But are you not any different for selling innocent people for your own good and money, Mr. Argus Argentine?"

Nakatutok ngayon ang dagger ni Sayuri sa leeg ni Mr. Argus, umurong naman ito nang bahagya.

"I... I'll pay you anything, give you anything you want, just spare me." He begged, his eyes were now terrified too. "You must be the monsters... I mean the people that CALM has warned me about. Hindi ko inakala na malalaman ninyo ang operasyon na ito. I was being cautious... Kaya sa karagatan ang venue ng auction," saad nito.

Naglakad naman ako palapit kay Mr. Argus, binaling niya ang kaniyang tingin sa akin, "you were not cautious enough." Ngumisi ako. I finally got his attention. Tinanggal ko ang transparent skin sa aking kamay matapos ang ilang sandali, at halata naman ang pagtataka sa mukha ni Mr. Argus habang ginagawa ko iyon.

"This ship will sink, right?" I asked.

"Yes," Portgas confirmed. Nakaupo na siya ngayon sa isa sa mga silya na dating upuan ng mga bidders kanina. "We are lucky, we get to put an end to the Argentine and Maxwell people. They are troublesome people, especially given the fact that they are one of the sponsors of CALM."

The operation went well. It was a success and one sided. The enemy did not stand a chance at all, and my participation was not needed at all. Sinuot ko muli ang gloves matapos ang ilang sandali.

"We will take this man as a hostage and sent him to Dr. Achilles, I know he has inventions made specifically for interrogation and such," ngumisi si Shinigami matapos niyang sabihin iyon.

Kasabay nito ay ang paglabas ng mga babaeng nakidnap mula sa backstage, halata ang tuwa sa kanilang mukha dahil sila ay nasalba. Tumungo na rin kaming lahat sa sundeck at bumaba gamit ang ladder. We went towards the submarine as well.

When we were finally on board the submarine. The engine automatically lit to life, a work of Viveron, and she piloted it away from the ship. When we were finally on a safe range, that was the time that Sunhell released the bombs at the cruise ship by simply pressing the button he was holding. On board still on the ship were those bad people too. A live footage of the ship as it slowly was being devoured by the ocean can be seen as well through the screen on this private part of the submarine.

"Our work is done," Athanasius stated, "we can finally take a break and rest after."

"That was very anti-climatic, though... I expected more." Halata ang disappointment sa tono ni Sayuri. "There is really no enemy that can match our power." Dagdag pa nito.

"Well, we are over-powered." Ngumisi si Shinigami sa kaniyang kambal.

"Indeed," Sayuri agreed.

~*~

Third Person Point of View

"It seems like the Argentine and Maxwell are done for," saad ito ng isang lalakeng nakaupo sa kabisera ng pahabang mesa kung saan may mga nakaupo ring ibang tao. There were two vacant spots as well around the table, "RAGE seems to be interfering more and more with our personal businesses." Aniya.

"What is the plan?" Tanong ito ng isa sa mga lupon ng CALM, "if only we can take one among their agents. I heard it only took five people to bring down the entire households. If we have that same power within our grasp, we would not struggle at all."

"You heard that from?" Tumaas ang kilay ng lalakeng nakaupo sa gitna. Siya ang pinuno ng CALM.

"I also sent one of my girls to act undercover and as a spy. She pretended to be auctioned too, who would have thought she will witness such? Hindi rin makapaniwala ang aking spy dahil limang tao lang ang namobilize."

"We have to be very wary, then. Especially with our movements. Ang pinagtataka ko lang ay kung paano nalaman ng RAGE ang patungkol sa auction ng mga Maxwell at Argentine." This time, a lady spoke.

"Are you suggesting there is a snitch here?" Their leader asked.

Umiling naman ang babae, "no, I think they have someone too who can have access on anything in the virtual world. That is how they got the information."

"Absurd." One of the council laughed, "how is that even possible?"

"Nothing is impossible with Science." Sagot naman ng isa sa kanila. "Anyway, what is our course of action?"

"Lie low for now and wait for the perfect opportunity and chance." Their leader stated after.