Daisy's Adventures: 01 Fun in Mexico

Two more grenades came, and the shield kept us safe. Then came a rocket. They had a bazooka. It exploded when it hit the shield, and the anchoring walls were destroyed. We also were hit with the blast wave, but it was weakened. However, as I was still magically connected to the shield, I felt it more. Thanks to Everest's enhancements, I wasn't physically injured, however, I was knocked unconscious from the magical blowback.

They made the expected decision to fall back, and Tony grabbed me. He headed back to the command post, where there was also a medic that could check me out. The others, however, continued the attack, but from another point. Tony decided that he could not get back on his own, due to the open area that was now under threat.

I came to a few hours later. That's when I got the bad news. Those reinforcements from the cartel wound up killing or capturing the contingent we had been with. The only good news was that there was no sign of Miguel, so he was likely a captive. The cartel then retreated into the wilderness, and the locals decided not to follow in force.

I raised my hand to my head, feeling my headache.

"Daisy, you're awake!"

I recognized Tony's voice. "Ow, my head."

"We were hit by a rocket. I don't know why we survived, but it knocked you out good."

"Oh."

I was quiet for a moment, listening. It was clear I was hooked up to some machines. Opening my eyes, I then looked about. Tony was by my side, but I had several sensors hooked to me. There was even an IV.

"Can you read my chart to me? I want to know what they found."

As he moved to read the chart, he said, "More like what they didn't find."

Eventually, he read it to me. The IV was to keep me hydrated, and the sensors were to monitor me. They found nothing wrong with me, except for the fact I was unconscious. They were still waiting for some tests to come back. I sat up in the bed.

"What of Miguel, and the fight?"

Tony told me what happened, and that Miguel was missing.

"Have they learned where he's being held?"

"They haven't told me. I did call Elena, and offered our help, limited as it may be."

"Good. I need to learn where he is. I will see to his rescue."

"It will have to wait until the doctors clear you."

"Then I shall deal with that. Give me a few moments."

I closed my eyes, and focused on my body, using Inanna's healing sight. The only thing not healthy was my mind, and that was because of the magic blowback. I could tell it was something that would go away on its own in a few days, but I chose to focus and use her healing abilities to clear it. It only took a few seconds, as it wasn't much that needed to be fixed.

I then started to disconnect myself. I started with the IV, and I briefly focused on Inanna's healing, and the minor wound was healed instantly. The sensors I just removed from my arms, chest, and head. Some of the machines started complaining, so I started turning them off.

A nurse entered the room quickly, and said in Spanish, "What are you doing? Get back in bed!"

Replying in Spanish, I replied, "I am now well. I am leaving now."

"The doctor has not cleared you yet."

I used a whammie on her, while saying, "The chart says there is nothing wrong with me."

She went and read the chart, "Well, they are waiting for tests, but you are right. I guess you can leave, but it is irregular."

I got out of bed, and took off the gown I wore. Now naked, I went and opened the closet. The nurse was scandalized, but I ignored her. I then dressed with the clothes in the closet, leaving the vest off. My badge was still on my shirt. There were no weapons there. I closed my eyes, and felt for my sword. The link indicated it was nearby. Turning my back on the nurse, I cast a fetch spell, and it appeared in my hand. I slid it into my belt, and told Tony it was time to leave.

We left the nurse in the room, and I asked what had happened to his weapons.

"I turned in my weapons to the others when I went with the ambulance. They took yours at that time. Hey, is that a dagger? How'd they miss that?"

"They didn't. It is much more than a dagger, and it has a spiritual link to me. I used a spell to fetch it, like I did your badge. Let's see if we can find out where Miguel is."

We went back to our hotel, and once there, we looked up what happened, according to the news. This let us know which agency was handling the case. Then we looked up where they were located. Tony and I had the hotel shuttle take us there, and we went in to look for the one in charge.

As we entered, I pulled Tony aside, and said, "Wait with me a moment."

"What's up?"

"I'm going to find where to go, but I won't be asking."

"How?"

"Hush..." I closed my eyes, and focused, listening with my mind to the others about, and within a few seconds, I got a name, and in a few more seconds, a location. I opened my eyes, and looked at Tony.

"Let's go. We want to see Captain Xavier Morales, on the third floor. Follow me."

I used Isis's power to reduce their notice of us, and led Tony right past a number of officers, and even past a security check, to get into the staff-only part of the building. Then I led the way to the third floor. When we got there, the captain was busy.

I whispered to Tony, "Let's wait by the wall, and see what we can overhear."

He nodded, and we waited, listening. However, I was doing my listening mentally. When I found someone with information, I scanned a little deeper, to get more details. The captain was still busy ten minutes later, but I had what we needed.

Whispering, I said, "Tony, I have what we need. Let's go to a break room to talk."

"Huh? They barely talked about the details."

"Come."

I then headed to an unused, small conference room, and after Tony entered, I closed and locked the door. I also set the blinds closed, so no one would see what we were doing. Tony sat and waited for me.

I said, "Observe." I then created an illusion on the screen, as though I was projecting something.

Tony looked from the screen to the projector, and said, "How are you doing that? The projector is turned off."

"Magic, an illusion, but fairly accurate." I walked to it, pointed, and said, "Here is where they think he is. The compound is located here..." I changed the illusion to a map, and pointed to it, as well as the route to it. "They think there are a number of people held prisoner, and we can get there in a little more than an hour."

We spoke for another ten minutes, and I had to explain that I had the ability to hear thoughts, and that plenty were going about with Captain Morales running his investigation. I updated the illusion several times, as Tony had various questions. When we finished, I opened the blinds, and we left the building, but out the back. There, I whammied the attendant, and he gave us the keys to a pair of vehicles suitable for going into the jungle. We fueled up, and left.

"Wow, stealing cop cars from their own lot." It was clear Tony was bemused that I could do this.

"Just borrowing them."

On the way, I used An's power to call for a thunderstorm where we were heading. About an hour later, I slowed down, and Tony, right behind me, also slowed. I opened my senses to the life about me, looking for human life. Additionally, I used my other senses to directly sense the road, so I could cut my headlights. I still had my running lights, but was going slower. When I sensed someone ahead, I stopped and cut my lights when Tony stopped.

I got out, into the light rain, and walked to his SUV. "Tony, there's someone ahead, keeping watch on the road." I handed him another weapon belt, just like I made before, and said, "As you turned in your weapons, here are some more. I'll walk on ahead, and take care of the watchers."

I then walked into the jungle, and then used Isis's flight ability to close silently, and from above. There were two people in the shack. I focused on their minds, and found both were killers, and had killed a number of people for the cartel. Rather than let the law handle them, I called on An's power, and pulled down a lightning bolt to the shack.

The shack was not protected, so the bolt took out the radio, and also hit one of the two. The other got hit by the thunder of the adjacent bolt, and was knocked out. A fire started, but I used An's power to keep it from fresh air, and it went out quickly. Noting that one still lived, I hit him with a bolt from my hand. While not as powerful, by far, it was more precisely aimed, and so killed him. Given the evidence, everyone should think they died in the storm from lightning.

I returned to the road, and before I came into view, I dismissed Isis's wings. Walking to his car, I said, "The advance guard has been taken care of."

"You sure?"

"Yes. And it will look natural. Don't worry about it."

I could see he was a little troubled. But I just went back and turned on my running lights. A mile later, I pulled off to the side, stopped, and cut my lights. He did the same.

At his door, I said, "We are just outside the compound. I will go in first, and do my best not to kill, unless they shoot at you or me. It will get ugly. I want you to hang back, and follow. You can collect some weapons from the ones I take out. Oh, and you will see me fighting at a level you have never seen before, so don't stare. It could get you killed."

"You are going in by yourself? Everyone will gun for you."

"That's the idea. But they will have a hard time lining up a shot, and this armor I wear is not the only armor I have. I also have magical armor. I will also apply some on you before I go in."

"Are you sure? There are probably over a hundred in there."

"I am sure. Now, to your armor." I then cast an armor spell on him, and another on me. Then I pulled in An's and Everest's powers to enhance my body. I got out my weapon, and caused it to go from dagger to sword. I also activated the sharpness enchantment.

I then ran to the entrance, and it was barred. I sliced a hole in it before they even realized I was there. I then ran to the side, and when I neared, I jumped up onto the wall, and ran into the guardian on the wall there. I was fast enough that I could knock him out with a kick, then I dumped him inside the wall, weapons and all. I figured Tony could collect the weapon. Then I raced to the next one along the wall.

In less than a minute, I had cleared the wall of cartel people, and also sliced their mounted weapons. Tony had followed cautiously, and was just entering through the hole I made. Enough noise occurred, that the place was spilling cartel people all over. Returning the sword back to dagger form, I put it back in my belt. I waded into the largest cartel group, and used martial arts to take them out. I used Everest's power to double my effective weight, and also to strengthen my muscles.

Soon, I was knocking them out, or sending them flying. When a group went down, I went for the next one. As I ran here and there, many tried to shoot me, including at least two machine guns. My speed meant they missed most of the time, and I used that to my advantage. Many of their misses hit their own cartel members. I took out the machine guns with my obsidian daggers, like I did earlier in the day.

I was running out of minions when the leaders decided to leave. So, in the middle of my fighting, I also called down lightning to hit their SUVs. Both flipped in the resulting explosions, and I made a special effort to capture them. Finally, no one was shooting at me. The few that were left surrendered. Tony used the zip-ties from our SUVs to tie them up. Then he watched them, while I went in to rescue the prisoners.

Miguel was hurt badly, but bandaged, and stable. So were several others from the battle. But there were nearly a dozen others being held for ransom. After freeing them, I had the most able help the least, and had them go to the compound's motor pool. There were enough vehicles to get all the prisoners and the leaders back to town. The rest, who surrendered, we put in the cells and locked them in. Then we left, heading back to the city. All told, the cartel stronghold fell in under an hour.

We headed back to the building where we got the SUVs from, and parked in a line in front of it. We told the first cop we saw to get Captain Morales, then send for some paramedics.

He ran back into the building, and soon the Captain came out.

He shouted for quiet, then shouted for information on what this was about. One of his own spoke up.

"Captain, we were rescued. We also have some cartel leaders, and there are more cartel personnel still there, waiting to get picked up."

While the captain was busy, I told Tony it was time we left.

We got back to the hotel late at night, hit the shower, then went to bed. In the morning, we missed the complimentary breakfast, but we didn't care. The sleep was needed. We decided to stay at the hotel rather than go to the beach. Once room service sent up a late breakfast, Tony started asking me many questions. I told him that I was able to access magical battle enhancements, and that is what he saw.

That afternoon, Miguel knocked on our door.

"Hello Tony, Daisy. About last night, I have some questions."

Tony said, "Ask her. She was the one that did all the unusual things."

I said, "Tony, why don't you call room service and have them send up some food and drink? We may be talking for a while, and the drink will help lubricate the conversation."

He nodded, and went to another room.

I turned to Miguel, and asked, "Did you tell anyone about us?"

"Not by name. But they may think to get fingerprints from the SUVs. I wanted to know what really happened before I said more about you."

"I see. It starts with the fact I am a priestess. You may not have heard of Inanna, but that is who I serve mostly. I serve several others, also."

"Inanna? Isn't she the sex goddess from those Nigkala fantasy films?"

"She is, and more. Like the films, she is a goddess of sex and war. That latter is why I am so good at combat. I also spent several years as a special agent for my government, but I am semi-retired. I am on-call should they need me, and I think it worth my time. So I do have some law enforcement training, even if not quite what I implied."

"Does Tony know?"

"Some, but by no means all. He learned a lot about me last night. Most of which I would like to keep secret."

"Then why risk it rescuing us?"

"I like Tony. You are Tony's friend. You also have a wife and child that need you. I felt it was worth it. If you don't mention you saw us, they will wonder what happened, but will not connect it to us. If they do, so be it. I have ways to dissuade them from bothering me."

Just then room service arrived. Our discussion waited until they left. We started eating, and drinking, and continued talking.

Miguel said, "When they interrogated the leaders, they said they could not escape because lightning hit their SUVs. I saw two burning SUVs, and they could have been struck by lightning. But why would it hit them and no one else?"

"Must have been a miracle." I smiled.

We could feel the sarcasm when Miguel said, "Right."

"Well, priests are known for miracles." I then winked.

Tony, watching, said, "What, you caused it? How?"

"I did nothing." Then holding my hands a foot apart, I caused a bolt to go from one to the other. "See? Nothing." The smell of ozone suddenly permeated the air.

Tony, with eyebrows raised, asked, "Does your goddess let you do that, too?"

"No, she's more intimate, both sex and combat. An, is a god of air, and he is known for things like lightning bolts. I also serve him."

"Oh..."

Miguel added, "These gods are real?"

"Oh yes. Some of the old gods have made a resurgence, and I have become of interest to them. From them, I have a number of magical abilities and senses. I also help out gaining converts, but I do it with a low profile."

Tony, shaking his head, looked at me, and said, "I've known you for years, and this is news to me."

"Like I said, low profile." I then smiled at Tony.

We talked for another hour, and when Miguel said it was time for him to go, I asked him to wait a moment.

"Why?"

"I wanted to ask if you were well, or still injured?"

"I'm banged up a bit, but I'll be okay in a week or so."

"I also have healing abilities. Would you like me to take care of your wounds? It won't take long."

He sat back down, "You can do that?"

I got up, and moved beside him, as I said, "Yes. May I?" He nodded.

I then focused on his body with Inanna's healing sense, and noted his problems. I saw the obvious trauma, but he also had some issues that were clearly older. Placing my hands on his shoulders, I used her power to address all the issues, including his eyes, which were nearsighted.

It was only a few minutes, when I said, "All done."

"That's nice. All the pain is gone."

"My pleasure."

We escorted him to the door, and said goodbye to each other. Tony and I talked well into the evening, and we sent for more room service. I emphasized my keeping things secret as a way to avoid harassment or investigation. Eventually, he agreed to keep my secret. We went to bed early, and had sex.

In the morning, we resumed our schedule, and went on another sightseeing tour, this time of archaeological things. We learned that the area had many Aztec sites, and one nearby even had a visitor center to show off some of the artifacts. As we went through, we took some pictures. Later at the souvenir shop, I picked up some 'authentic' jewelry, as well as a pair of books about the Aztec culture. We took the extended tour, and saw a second site, where we got to see how the artifacts were processed. Tony and I watched, through a thick glass window. We saw them carefully extract the artifacts from a few feet away.

Tony was surprised I understood what they were doing. I told him I had done some archaeology in the past. I explained a number of things as I answered his questions. I also noticed several others paying attention when I spoke.

We relaxed on the way back, and went swimming. I noticed Tony liked the bikini I chose to wear. We decided to return to the Aztec Palace, and we appreciated the art more this time. That night, we went on a midnight cruise, that let us see the stars from the ocean. It was a nice relaxing time, and when we returned in the wee hours, we went right to bed.

The next day, we again went to see Miguel and Elena for dinner. By unspoken agreement, we didn't discuss the fight with the cartel. Instead, we spoke a lot about Aurora, her new crib, and their plans. Tony promised to video call at least once a month, maybe more often. Elena found time to thank me in private for the gift cards, but she was worried about how much they held. I reassured her I could afford it, and wanted her to be secure in the knowledge she could provide for her child.

We spent two more days there, before we returned home. He called one of the guys, and they sent one of the junior cops to pick us up, and bring us back to the precinct. I wore an Aztec outfit on the way home, so the guys at the precinct got to see it. I also showed one of the books with pictures of Aztec art, and recreations of their weapons. After a bit, Tony drove me home.

In the morning, I created an Aztec outfit for Tony. When it was ready, I called Tony, and asked him to visit. When he came, I let him in, without letting him see what I was wearing.

"So, what did you want to show me?"

I closed the door, and revealed myself to him. "You saw this already, but I also made one for you. Follow me."

"Interesting."

I led him to my bedroom, and invited him to change. He did, and when he looked in the mirror, he saw himself as an Aztec warrior.

"All I need is one of their clubs."