[1] Hunted at the Sandtrap

[Pinky]

Earth, in the downtown area at the city of Hedonopolis…

Rod was leaping from one empty back alley to another, his impromptu now-unconscious co-voyeur Leer slumped over his shoulders. He had made a clean escape from the school’s grounds which wasn’t a very difficult task, since nobody in the whole of the city could match his speed or agility. At least, that’s what he thought…

So, it was a complete surprise when he caught the shadowy movement out of the corner of his eye. It was too fast to react to and he felt the sharp, stinging pain of a fierce blow against his temple. Immediately falling limp, Hardwood and his passenger bounced off the ground a few times before coming to an abrupt halt against a hard brick wall.

“That was too easy,” someone said as a pair of figures closed in on the dazed man. Rod tried to get back to his feet, but the damage he had already taken was too much and instead of rising to the challenge he blacked out.

* * *

"Welcome to Friend or Foe."

"We don't have time for a Q&A. Just be sure that we'll be watching. Cameras are everywhere."

Hardwood watched as the jeep drove off into the horizon. It was so random and unexpected that he didn’t know how to react. Of all the times for the universe to take a piss all over him, why now? The promise of a cash reward didn’t even register. This was just too much, and at too wrong a time.

Rod simply stood there, sweat already beading on his forehead, as he listened to all of the others talking to one another. It seems that they hadn’t taken much notice of him, if any at all. Perhaps his long-honed skill of maintaining total anonymity, even among such a small group in the middle of a barren desert, was a little too good.

Rather than draw attention to himself Hardwood began to rifle through his pockets: all of his impromptu spying tools were intact, sans the digital camera. Did they take it from him while he was unconscious? It must be so. One of the mysterious goons had said something that left an impression that each sandy dune was festooned with surveillance equipment but perhaps they didn’t want to be put under the same circumstances.

However, Rod still had the pair of young girl’s panties in his pocket. At least they hadn’t taken that!

Turing his eyes to the five other members of this “team” Rod noticed that there were a few too many people of the feminine persuasion for his tastes. Sure, there was only two of them, but they were likely more dangerous to him than anything else that this acclaimed other team could throw at him.

After taking stock of the situation Hardwood decided to consign to just being a quiet tag-along, staying far enough away to avoid getting too close to the others but not so distant as to lose track of them.