Fatal Attraction Ch. 02

He moved faster than they could see, connecting punches, easily dodging swings and finally leaping around swinging his legs in large semi circular arcs knocking down all the three of the new attackers in less than five seconds. He then slowly approached the infamous porn star.

Randy's jaw had dropped down to his chest. What the hell had just happened? All of his mates were on the floor, some grimacing in pain and others knocked flat out. Apparently this man had been responsible but Randy Rodriguez could barely tell anyone how he had done it. His pants were barely on his hips, still unzipped.

Suddenly Randy withdrew a pocket knife from under the folds of his jacket and held it out in his hand as he flipped the blade open.

"You don't wanna use that." The man's voice was calm and collected.

"What? You scared pretty boy?" Randy sneered with mock contempt. His knees were trembling.

"Okay then", the man stated as he shrugged and remained where he was.

Randy waited for a few seconds before he suddenly yelled a battle cry and launched himself forward. With one swift step to the side, the man dodged Randy's straight thrust and instantly caught hold of the knife wielding hand. Randy yelled as the skilled fighter bend his arm back and slashed his famous face with the knife still in his hand. Two seconds later Randy and his opponent were standing five feet apart, Randy trying to contemplate what had just taken place.

He felt blood dripping from his cheeks as he touched his face with his fingers to feel what was wrong. His fingers returned dyed crimson red.

"You asshole, you have no idea what you've done!" Randy shrieked before he again launched himself at his adversary.

This time the man suddenly leaped revolving a complete circle as he swung around his leg. The aimed foot connected with the side of Randy's head, sending him flying to the side wall. Randy crashed against the wall and was immediately knocked out from the impact to his head, slumping into a pile of garbage and plastic bags.

The man straightened his coat as he quickly made his way towards the person who had been the victim of all these men. He sat down next to Duke and cradled his head in his arms.

Duke's eyes were half open and his head was moving from side to side slowly, as if listening to some slow music. His savior lifted his form gently, trying to dress him up, making the best he could to cover his nakedness with the torn clothes.

"You okay BadgerKing?" the man questioned in a soft voice as he used his other hand and slowly rose to a standing position with Duke in his alms. He easily carried him across the dingy alley where one tragedy had just been prevented and other tragedies lay moaning in the dingy alley.

The tube light flickered relentlessly as two men left the dingy alleyway and five other lay barely moving on the dirt ridden floor.

~~~

"Are you sure you haven't seen Duke anywhere?"

"No, its been ages since I last saw him," the store owner replied.

Damien was getting more and more worried as each second passed. Where the hell had Duke disappeared? He had searched frantically in the streets and in the stores adjacent to the bar, all to no avail. He was constantly trying Duke's cell phone as well, but it had been switched off even before he had met Duke at the bar, and he didn't expect Duke to use it in the drunken state he was in.

Damien was worried to death. As long as he had known him, he had never seen Duke drink himself to such a stupor. Hell, he had hardly ever seen him drink at all. And today things had really gotten out of hand.

But what he was really worried about was Randy. His stomach tied itself in knots when he thought about what Randy would do to Duke in that helpless state.

~~~

He was having s tough time dragging Duke around. Initially the weight had been easy to carry, but after that staircase, even his strong arms were tired. After all Duke was a pretty big guy.

Finally he reached the apartment and managed to get the keys out of Duke's pocket. Turning the key around with one hand he slowly hauled Duke into it. Making his way into the bedroom, he gently placed the knocked out form onto the bed.

He hastily made his way to the cupboard clicking his tongue in disapproval as he looked at the dirty oversized t-shirts he saw inside. Did this guy wear anything other than those? Finally he selected one and got back to the man he had lugged around with him for the past 15 minutes. He gently took off his own jacket, the one he had put on the drunken form, lest he catch a cold, and replaced it with the t-shirt he had fetched from the cup board.

Duke moaned a bit in his reverie, as if enjoying the pampering and snuggled into the sheets to make himself more comfortable.

The man sat beside the now sleeping form, staring at him for a few moments. He gently ran his hand over his hair, brushing aside the strands that fell onto his forehead.

"I'm sorry BadgerKing. I hope you forgive me."

He took a deep breath and got up. He had to make his leave. He had to leave the town in a few hours. And his companion would not be happy to know he'd come here.

~~~

"But why do you have to get inside now?" The old lady asked in an irritated voice.

"Just let me check once. I think he might be in. And he's not answering the phone." Damien had been frenetically searching for the past fifteen minutes. Having no luck on the streets, he ha finally decided to check up on Duke's house itself.

She grumbled as she fetched out her spare key and opened the door to Duke's apartment. She hated being disturbed at night. She was still in her sleeping gown, and mumbled disparagingly about homosexuals as she swung the door open and Damien stumbled inside in his hurry.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't," the old landlady stated in an icy tone as she made her leave.

"No, and sorry for disturbing you this late. I'll shut the door when I leave."

She hmmphed as she stomped away, her frilly night gown swishing as she made her way across the corridor.

Damien rushed to the only bedroom and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Duke's sleeping form on the bed; snoring slightly as his chest rose and fell.

He quietly walked over to the bedside and looked down at his friend. Thoughts were still running through his head. How had Duke reached here? He had been way too wasted before. Had Randy brought him here? Had Randy done anything to him? He looked at his watch; it was barely twenty minutes since he had left Duke alone in the bar. Randy simply would not have had the time to do something with the drunken Duke and then bring him over. Then had someone else brought him in?

Damien suddenly felt exhausted himself. All the worrying had worn him down. He hardly felt like going home himself.

He made his way to the living room and settled down into the sofa, his frame barely fitting into it, falling asleep minutes after.

~~~

It was 10 AM on Monday and Duke woke up to a splitting head ache. The blinds had been strung open and the sun streamed in onto his face.

"Ahh, sleeping beauty awakens!"

Duke squinted his eyes to make out the silhouetted form against the sun's rays which stung his eyes. It was Damien.

"Jeez, what time is it?" Duke questioned and immediately regretted speaking for his own voice reverberated across the insides of his head, making it throb with pain.

"Late enough," Damien stated, flopping down onto the bed next to Duke. "How did you get home yesterday? You came by yourself?"

Duke tried to clear his head as he tried to recall the previous night's events. His head throbbed even harder. All he could remember was a dark alleyway and a flickering tube light.

"Can't remember," he finally stated as softly as he could.

"Did you meet Randy after I left you?"

Duke thought back once again. Everything was hazy but, he did meet Randy somewhere after Damien left him, didn't he?

"Okay, drink this up. My special concoction." Duke glanced at the bedside stand and noticed a pale yellow-red colored drink, Damien's cure for his hangover.

"I have to go now buddy, duty calls, but if you need anything, call me," Damien stated as he arose to make his way out.

"And don't go beating yourself over that guy again, that Scott fellow!" Damien's voice was authoritative.

Duke shrugged picking up the drink, pinching his nose shut as he gulped down its contents.

~~~

The loud clanging of the phone woke Duke up again. He checked the clock at the bedside stand before he answered the phone, all the time cursing the loudness of the tone. It was 11:53 AM. He had fallen asleep again after Damien had left.

"Hi hon, its me."

"Damien?" Duke whispered hoarsely into the phone. His head was still reeling. He was having the hang-over of the century.

"Yup, sweetie and I have some interesting news. You'll want to hear this."

Duke waited for Damien's 'pause for dramatic effect' to subside.

"Yesterday, after you got wasted and I sorta left you for a moment, Randy picked you up."

"Ok?" Duke's voice had apprehension in it. He could vaguely recall something.

"Along with four other dudes." Duke's stomach churned.

"Still don't recall anything sweetheart?" Duke shook his head, stating no. His mind was still clouded.

Damien sighed from the other end before continuing. "And they sorta took you to some dark alley and were all set to take turns on you but somebody came along and saved you."

"Huh?" Duke stated with surprise in his voice.

"Saved you is an understatement," Damien continued, "He literally bashed all five of their skulls in. Beat them up real good."

"Serisouly?" Duke questioned.

"Yup, they've all been beaten up badly and a couple of them have been hospitalized as well. All done by one man who none of them knew. And the words all around and everywhere man. Everyone's talking about it."

The fog in Duke's mind was suddenly lifting. His headache seemed to have disappeared.

"And then I'm guessing he dropped you home; your knight in shining armor. Can't you remember anything darling?"

Duke did not reply.

"You there darling?" Damien questioned.

Suddenly he whispered. "It was Scott."

"Huh?"

This time his voice rang into Damien's ears on the other end loud and clear. "I know who it was," Damien stated firmly. "It was Scott."