Chapter 9
The Agrippa Team
"That was an interesting meeting," replied Jezzz.
She sat in a rocker at Young Herod's apartment, which was just down the street from Judas' Headquarters. She watched Young Herod resting full-length on the bed with his feet crossed. He moved his fingers in the air as if punching text bullets on an imaginary paper before him.
"It was opportunity. I know it was. I just have to figure out how to use it. We are very close to the throne room of Judas. With the information on those CDs, we can do almost anything and hurt them bad. I just have to figure out how bad to do it. I want to make sure you're safe. I want one of us to finish our life out. You and Lawrence deserve it. I don't know if I want to go on. I'll finish this up, but I don't know what I'll do after it's over."
"Stop talking so depressingly. My goodness, Young Herod, you're young, handsome, strong, smart."
"And able to leap tall buildings with a single bound! Faster than a speeding bullet!" he shouted, clowning around.
"Oh stop that! Where did you get lines like that? I've never heard them before, but they're catchy," she asked as she went over them in her head for her own amusement.
"One of those old series. I can't exactly remember the name of it. Wonderguy, or something like that."
"Okay, enough of my self pity. Now, let's figure out what to do."
"I want to know what's on those CDs," replied Jezzz enthusiastically.
"I do too. I'd like to know more about what we’re capable of before the rest find out. It'd give us an obvious edge, don't you think?" he stated as he watched her head nod "yes."
"The Agrippa twins will have them. We won't ever get our hands on them. If we could only get them long enough to copy them, that would work."
"Not likely. Pilate told me the CDs were sealed with a Judas seal. I understand from Cobrata that each person who receives it, copies it, and then reseals it with their own personal seal. It can't move on without the proper seal. It can't be accepted if the seal is broken. An alarm will go off and the first person to die will be the courier. They've figured it all out. Locked it down tight."
He continued, "I want to know who those contacts are. That's the backbone of the organization. They even have the locations of where they're hiding all the nuclear devices in South America. If we want to really hurt the organization, we need to bring them all down. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall."
"What's that supposed to mean? Where are you getting all these sayings and stuff from? Your mother must have read you Father Goose or something when you were a kid."
"It's Mother Goose. I like it and the 'Cat in the Hat.' Didn't you have any fun when you were a kid?"
"Yes, obviously not as much as you did. You're quite a big softie for being a dark Nephilim. Every time I turn around, you're surprising me."
"Well, here's another surprise. I always wanted to be one of the good guys. I hate this bad guy routine. I wanted to be Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers or Flash Gordon."
"Stop with all those ancient unknowns. I'm sure they mean something to you, but I don't have a clue what you're talking about."
"I'm talking about what made your sister and me such an item. She and I used to dig through the archives and get all sorts of old black-and-white, digitized films and play them one after another. It made us feel wholesome. Neither one of us liked being dark Nephilims. We hated it. I still do."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying? You're wishing you were a light Nephilim? You have dark angel blood running through you, and you're not thrilled about it?"
"Exactly. I don't want to be a dark Nephilim or a light Nephilim. I want to be human. I want to raise neutral children. No, I confess. I want my children to have a choice to chose between heaven and hell."
"I knew my sister was a little off, but you just proved it. Now, my confession. My sister and I talked about the same kinds of things. I agree! I don't think we're condemned to darkness, and we can change. Lawrence is helping me make that change. I hate this fatalistic, uncontrollable darkness thing. I want to make my own decision about heaven and hell, not just my children."
Young Herod jumped up, ran to her, then hugged her in his excitement. As they did, Jezzz pulled away and danced around in silly circles, "I'm not a wicked witch. I'm not a wicked witch."
Young Herod did the same and repeated, "I'm going to be good guy. I'm going to be a good guy!" They both laughed together in their revealing moment.
"But in the mean time, Little Miss Lollipops, I'm going to be very, very good by being very, very bad against my own kind. You want to join me, Tinker Bell?"
She laughed at his unknown names saying, "Whatever it takes, Lone Ranger. I, Tonto, am with you."
"Hey you said you'd never heard about the old stuff," he laughed.
"My sister told me that was her favorite. I have no idea who they were. But, they were the good guys. Isn't Tonto the sidekick?" she laughed as she returned to her rocker and Young Herod to the bed.
"Sidekick. Yeah, that's what they called those guys, sidekicks. Funny word, isn't it?" he mumbled.
"Unique, that's all. Truly, truly unique," she whispered joyously under her breath. "Just like us two."
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Agrippa And Agrippa
There was a loud pounding on the door. The Agrippa twins were standing outside with their customized, gasoline-operated limousine parked and waiting for them. People walking up the street in front of the apartment were detouring around them while wanting to avoid the walking mountains. They each weighed over four hundred pounds and had necks as big as most peoples' thighs. They wore matching, black and white, nylon running suits that made them look like human sports cars with white racing stripes. At 7-feet-8-inches tall, they looked down at Young Herod and Jezzz when they answered the door. Young Herod and Jezzz weren't used to looking up.
When Young Herod flung the door open, he only saw one Agrippa. The other was behind his brother matching his brother’s frame inch-by-body-fat inch. Each carried a small black case strapped to their shoulder. Young Herod figured they each must be carrying the devices in them.
"Don't come in guys. The furniture can't handle you. I guess you're ready to leave, right?"
"Yes," they answered together and handed Young Herod his airline tickets.
"We have a courier to meet, and you have some little girls to find. Let's get going. You want to follow us to the airport, or do you want to drive to Washington?"
"You got it wrong. You follow us. At a distance, remember?" he reminded them as they reached for their packed suitcases and closed the door behind them, then sprinted towards their car.
The Agrippa twins weren't very smart. Their mother tried to kill them several times when they were babies by continually dropping then on their heads for all their ugliness and size. They suffered a little bit for it, but no one was ever brave enough to tell them just how stupid they really were. They even tried professional wrestling before it was outlawed. They were exiled from it for using excessive force and violence. They never could figure out how to play at wrestling. They killed three of their opponents before the wrestling commission figured out that they were just too stupid to pretend.
"Let's go," whispered Young Herod as he commanded the car to top speed. "The farther I keep these guys behind us, the better I feel. Let's get the distance thing handled right up front."
As they sped out of the parking lot, they used almost a week's worth of battery charge. The Agrippa twins were having difficulty fitting into the doors of their limousine. After some help from the driver and putting each on opposite sides for balance, they finally got going. They soon passed Young Herod and Jezzz since they were driving with a gasoline engine. By the time Young Herod and Jezzz arrived at the airport, the Agrippas were ahead of them and passing through the metal detector, except they couldn't fit through the detector gates and had to be scanned.
Once they all got on the plane, Young Herod and Jezzz
moved far forward and exchanged seats with other passengers to get away from them. The airline hostess had to clear two seats each for the Agrippas, which they had arranged in advance, and they had to sit sideways on them strapped in with their feet dangling over the arm rests of the outside rows.
Young Herod thought how grateful he was that this wasn't a long flight. He was still trying to figure out the plan. The courier meeting was tomorrow, but no one knew exactly when, just that the courier would call the Agrippas to arrange a meeting place. Young Herod kept wondering how he could get the CDs from the Agrippas long enough to copy them without breaking the seal. He didn't know what to do. He kept thinking about Jezzz going back to Lawrence in two weeks. She had to live her life. It was more important than ever.
Upon arriving in Washington, they stayed in the Jerusalem Hyatt with adjoining rooms. The Agrippas reluctantly agreed, then after they unpacked, cranked up the TV’s, and ate five pizzas each, they fell asleep. Young Herod and Jezzz slipped out and got another room, then disappeared together for the rest of the night. They couldn’t take a chance in hotel-thin walls with the Agrippas next door. The Agrippas didn't miss them for hours, then it was too late. Rather than panic, they stayed awake in their rooms and waited. They figured that they'd have to come back sooner or later. They hoped this didn't get back to Judas.
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Away At Last
"What do you want to do, Young Herod?" asked Jezzz as she stretched out on a long sofa in their own private suite.
"I can't imagine having those monstrosities hanging with us all the time. They're tied to Judas too much," he replied as he looked out the window at the Washington skyline.
"We need to get the CDs first, then we need to get them copied. How?"
"How?" muttered Young Herod. "They're attached to them. Each of them keeps a hand on the case at all times. We need to find a way of cutting off their hands first. That's it. Let's just get a chain saw. Think they'd notice?"
"Could stand to lose the weight, but I imagine the hemorrhaging would make them suspicious," she giggled while enjoying the image of it, anyway.
"First, we don't want them around, right? Yes. We need the CDs, right? Yes. We want to make sure the courier doesn't know we copied the CDs. Since the seal has to be broken to copy them, the courier has to think the seal was broken by accident. He'd have to actually see the accident that did it, right? Yes!" he stated flatly while he looked at the outline of an amusement park against the night sky with the Ferris wheel lit up like an ancient Christmas tree.
"They have to follow us everywhere, don't they? We need to get them somewhere where they can't get away, where we have control. We need to get them some place where we can take the CDs from them without getting killed for it."
"Don't you have the CD duplicator with you? What if, we did something to distract them? I'd only need less than a second to copy both of them, then get them back. But how?"
"We'd have to kill them to get them to sit still for that," then Young Herod froze. He looked up slowly at Jezzz, who had walked up beside him and looked with him out the window.
"Yes, we do, Young Herod. Yes, we do," she kept repeating.
Now the question was not would they kill them, but how? Her eyes stared into his; and for a moment, he forgot it was Jezzz and put his hand on her face and ran his thumb over her lips. She didn't resist and knew what was happening.
"I'm Jezzz, Young Herod, not Abele."
He dropped his hand apologetically, and she picked it up and kissed the back of his hand tenderly. "Don't feel bad. If it weren’t for Lawrence, I'd be all over you. That's just how stupid true love is, isn't it? Hang in there, Young Herod. Please! We have to do this. We have to do it for our own children and other Nephilims; and for others who feel the same way we do. You know others do and just aren't saying."
Suddenly, something clicked. "I know a place where we can kill them, copy the CDs, and have that accident."
"You do?" she answered hopefully.
"Yep! A Ferris wheel!" he answered pompously. "Well, they have to follow us. So, we let them take a ride. How good are you at climbing? Weren't you and Abele gymnast in school? Almost went Olympic, right? Well, have I got a plan for you."
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Set The Bait
They sneaked back into the adjoining room early in the morning after going over the plan hundreds of times. Right after that, one of the Agrippas received a call from the courier. The meeting with the courier was to be at ten that morning. They knew with just a little luck on a Tuesday that not too many people would be at the amusement park that early, maybe none.
At nine that morning, the Agrippas opened the adjoining door and peeked in, grateful to see them there. They didn't hear Young Herod and Jezzz come in, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't stay awake. They didn't say a word, not wanting to advertise their failure of keeping tabs on them. They nodded shyly, closed the door, then slipped a note under the door about the courier arrival time; and an hour later, they all four sat in the Hyatt lobby while waiting for the final call to agree on where.
"You know, guys, Jezzz and I are going for a little ride. Why don't you take care of your courier, and we'll be back later," he replied as they got up and walked away with each other.
"You can't go! You have to stay! We can't do both, watch you and meet the courier. Don't do that to us!" they whined pathetically together.
"Well, for lands sake, boys, come on! You're just waiting for your phone call anyway. Just tell him where you want him to go. He'll meet you wherever it is. Come on guys, let's have some fun," they replied as they continued to walk towards the front doors.
The Agrippas jumped up in nodding agreement, though frustrated by it. They followed them to the taxi line, and as Young Herod and Jezzz got in a taxi, two more taxies took the Agrippas, barely able to fit in the back seats. The taxi whirled through the traffic towards the amusement park only ten miles from the Hyatt. As they pulled up and got out, the Agrippas frowned in dismay at their final destination.
"What are you two up to? We don't like this place. We never could go on these things when we were kids. You can't make us follow you on one, now! Come back to the hotel. Don't do this!" they commanded angrily.
"Guys, guys, will you two relax? We haven't been on a Ferris wheel since we were kids. You're not afraid of a safe ride like that are you?" challenged Jezzz
"We aren't afraid of anything. We're the Agrippa brothers. Stop that, Jezzz, stop that!" they yelled together as Jezzz strutted around like a chicken to tease them.
"Four rides, sir," ordered Young Herod.
A blurried-eyed man in grease covered overalls looked at them all like they were crazy. He was just the mechanic, and no one else was at the park. They were just lucky he was there that early in the morning. The park didn't open for another three hours.
"You think your machine can handle us?" asked Young Herod challengingly.
"Listen mister. I'm just the mechanic. I was greasing up the gears. You'll have to wait till they open." Young Herod instantly pulled out a 100-dollar silver certificate and stuck it in the guy's pocket. The mechanic didn't say a word, but marched over to the main switch and flipped it on while nodding "okay" to Young Herod.
"Hey, you guys need to go separate," yelled the mechanic. "You'll be way over the weight capacity together!"
Just then, one of the Agrippas’ phones rang, and he fumbled with it nervously, "Yes, that's what I said. The amusement park. I'm sorry, you were staying at the Hyatt too? You can see this place from there. Thirty minutes. Okay. We'll be here."
Suddenly, the courier added before he hung up, "Ferris wheel! Are you guys, crazy? My baby sister was killed on one of those in Europe when I was a kid. Mercy, man what a mess that was," he replied before hanging up.
"You see, guys, it's working out just fine, isn't it?" teased Jezzz.
"I'll let Jezzz sit behind you guys, and I'll sit on th
e opposite side to balance everything. You want balance, don't you, boys? Okay?" stated Young Herod confidently.
They grunted in green displeasure and squeezed themselves into separate cars. The mechanic was unable to lock them in because of their size. There was a moment of evident fear on each of the Agrippas’ faces, and Young Herod chuckled to himself about it.
"Oh, wait a minute," Young Herod said while climbing out of his car and running back to the well-paid mechanic. "Mr."
"It's Mr. Bobbie."
"Okay, Mr. Bobbie, I want to stay up for 30 minutes. There's a guy arriving who wants to meet with us. When he shows up, bring me down. The others want to stay up for awhile. Might as well not ruin their good time. Here, take this. A 1,000-dollar silver certificate for your extra trouble."
"Man, I'll keep you up all day for that much. You guys must really like the Ferris wheel. It's a pleasure doing business with you!"
The Ferris wheel started its rotation, and the Agrippas started turning a greater-shade green. They didn't make it around the first time before they lost their five pizzas and all the previous day's meals. Young Herod was glad the Agrippas were on the bottom when it happened. He noticed the time. They had 20 minutes left. He flagged down Mr. Bobbie when he got near the bottom and jumped out. He pulled out his own phone and called Jezzz.
"You ready? I'm sorry you have to be the one," he said sadly.
"I'm not. I want these Judas pigs dead," she replied.
"Hey buddy, stop them at the top, will you? They want to take some pictures!" he shouted.
"Sure! Just let me know when to move it," he replied as they came to a sudden stop at the highest point.
Jezzz was below and behind the last Agrippa while watching them swinging freely in their cars. They were so busy throwing up that the nearest Agrippa to Jezzz didn't even notice the nylon rope lassoing the metal structure above him. Jezzz pulled hard and kicked off her car while activating a rope winch, which pulled her speedily towards his car. She was lucky; and as she came up towards the back of him, she landed like a cat, a foot from his head without his noticing. She stuck a long syringe into his neck and squeezed, and he lurched forward violently, then she pulled it out and noticed the other twin was still too busy being sick.
She left the CD case on him and threw another lasso towards the other one. He heard it wrap his car support and turned to see her flying straight towards him.
"I'm just coming to give you some loving company," she shouted.
He sat upright and saw his brother slumped over with blood coming from the back of his neck that left a red bleed line down the side of his face. He shouted back at her just as she reached his car, "No you aren't! I'm dumb, but I'm not stupid!"
He punched her so hard in the mouth that she lost consciousness for a second and flew away from him in a wild, wide circle, and like a rag doll, then headed back into his grasp. The minute, he grabbed her, she came to, but he was only able to get a hold of her loose-fitting clothes. He tried to get a better grip and couldn't.
She noticed that he was so large that he couldn't turn very well, and she pushed the winch button one more time, which tore her away from him that made her do a Tinker Bell dance just above him. She left him holding pieces of her clothing clutched in his hands, and she pulled out the other syringe and pushed off another support, then swung around him in a confusing, dizzy circle. She kept doing her air dance, always just beyond his reach. He was cussing her but afraid to stand up. With his every movement, the car would pitch and rock even more. He almost fell out several times while trying to turn to face her.
He finally turned away from her for a second; and as he did, she dropped on him like a spider by completely letting loose of her rope. He was able to easily grab her waist and pulled his arms back to throw her off the car when she plunged the needle into his eye, jamming it deep into his brain, not needing the poison, but she smacked the end of the syringe anyway.
She looked down as the limousine pulled into the amusement park. She pulled the CD off her dead Agrippa; and while she perched on him, she pulled out her scanner. In less than five seconds, the copy was complete. She put it back into the case and taped the CD onto his palm, and put an extra piece of tape on the cover to make sure it stayed closed. Then, she took fishing line and a large needle and ran it through his coat sleeve. She reached up and grabbed her rope, which dangled several feet above her. She could see the courier walking slowly towards the Ferris wheel, but she knew he was unable to see them at the top, then she swung back to the other. She pulled at his case, and five seconds later, his copy was made. She repeated taping his CD the same way and fish-lined his arm like his brother's. Without the rope, she did a gymnastic flip, tuck, and roll, and landed expertly in her car.
Just as the courier was walking up to the Ferris wheel, she rang Young Herod twice as the signal. "Bring them down a reverse quarter while I talk to this man, okay?" he whispered.
"You got it, boss," Mr. Bobbie replied as the Ferris wheel moved only a quarter. Young Herod could see them wedged into their cars and hanging out of them but still looking alive for all the movement.
"I'm Young Herod. Judas arranged this meeting. Glad to meet you. We were just having a little fun. I guess the Agrippa boys got a little sick from it. Stopped it for a minute to settle their stomachs."
"Glad to meet you, Young Herod. My name is Joe. Man, they have been sick," he said as he looked at the ground and the nearby metal structures that dripped pizza puke.
Bobbie yelled in agreement, "But they really are troopers. They puke, and then they want to stay at the top. It does my heart good!"
"They have the CDs according to Judas. Let's get them down so I can go back to the hotel and get a nap. I've got serious jetlag," said Joe wearily.
Young Herod pulled his phone out and pretended to call them and waved at the Agrippas while saying, "Hey, guys, wave at the your courier. We need you down here to take care of business. Enough with having so much fun!"
"Hey, guys, be careful with those CDs! They got them, see?" The CDs could be seen in their hands even from the ground.
Jezzz jerked expertly on the lines, then pulled them sideways, which caused them to bang against the car sides. They flew out of their hands and plummeted and bounced hundreds of times off of the Ferris wheel and landed, one in a pile of pizza mess, the other wedged in the cross piece of a lower framework.
"Oh, no, not that! Don't move the Ferris wheel, sir! Don't move, anyone! Oh, please, don't be damaged, please! My life depends on that!" Joe shouted in despair as he ran towards the CD covers. "Look, the cases are still intact! Don't be broken! Don't be broken!"
"What's on those things? Must be important!" replied the man as he suspected something grander than Ferris wheel rides was taking place.
"He loves 60's tunes. It was a birthday present when people used to have birthdays," he said as he watched Joe wiping off the covers, then peering into them to see if they were damaged. The cases were cracked in several places, but the CDs had survived.
Young Herod handed the operator another 1,000-dollar sliver certificate whispering, "She'll give you another one once we're finished," and winked at him.
He snatched it from him and knew now that something far more significant than 60's tunes was taking place, but unwilling to lose the money regardless of what it was.
"The seals are broken! Oh, please! How will I explain this? How? I won't live another day after I take these back. I expected to make it another ten days or so. I've got to call Judas, now!"
"Here, let me dial it on my phone," Young Herod remarked as he watched Joe shaking all over, not figuring he'd not even be able to dial the number.
"Judas, this is Joe Candra, the courier. We've had an accident. Yes, the Agrippa twins are here. Yes, they are still on the Ferris wheel. They were taking a ride with Young Herod. Who's Jezzz?" he asked as Young Herod pointed above. He could barely see her, but heard her yelling "howdy" several times.
&
nbsp; "Yes, sir, every one is here. I got the CDs, but the Agrippas dropped them on the ride, and the seals are broken. What do I do? You know what that means? Thank you, sir, thank you! Would you do that? Thank you! I'll have these in Italy before tomorrow afternoon. Thank you, again!"
"What did he say?" asked Young Herod.
"He said he'd call Italy and clear it with my contact. He also said for you all to stop acting like school kids and get to work. I don't think he's very happy about the Agrippas. I don't know if they'll live through this goof up."
"That sounds bad. I hope they don't run off when they learn that. I know I would, wouldn't you?" he asked seriously.
"You're asking me that after you know what I'm faced with. That's kind of stupid. Ask someone whose life is in front of them. Think about it," he replied sarcastically. "I'm going back to the hotel. I have to get some sleep."
"Why don't you join us for lunch in a couple of hours. My lady will be coming. I don't know about the Agrippas. They may take your warning to heart and try to avoid that Judas event."
"Sure, I'd like that. Lunch in four hours, not two. Buzz my room when you're ready," he said as he went to his limousine.
"Okay, toots, you can come down now," advised Young Herod over the phone.
She swung down by moving from brace to brace in true Olympic fashion. As she got near the ground, she pulled on her fishing lines with her last swing and dismounted. The Agrippas lurched from their cars and fell through the Ferris wheel. The metal cut through their descent that left only two large torsos landing on the ground, mixed with Ferris wheel gears and metal. Jezzz walked towards Young Herod with her ropes and winch wrapped tightly into a nice bundle. She pulled off her backpack and stuffed them into it triumphantly. She pulled another 1,000-dollar silver certificate from her pocket and handed it to the shocked Bobbie, just as Young Herod had promised.
"I'd leave town, mister. Do you really want to be around when they start asking questions?" replied Young Herod.
"Sir, with this much money, I can stay gone for a long time. Got anymore? I'll stay gone forever," he said greedily and knew exactly what Jezzz had done, especially after he saw a fishing line tied to an arm that made it intact on the ground near him.
"You've got it," replied Jezzz and gave him two more. He could live for 20 years on that much money. He could buy his own Ferris wheel next time. All three ordered a cab together and stopped first at the Hyatt.
Young Herod's final words to Mr. Bobbie were, "Have a great life" as he closed the door of the cab and watched him leave.
As they got to their room, Young Herod asked her, "Did it feel all that bad killing them?"
"Yes, but I got over it thinking about Lawrence and Abele. It didn't take much. I don't want to ever hurt another human being, not even another Nephilim," she said trembling, and then broke down sobbing in waves of emotion and guilt. Young Herod held her for hours. It did him good. He was holding to Abele, and she suspected as much but didn't care.
"What's next?" she finally asked.
"I don't know. Judas will think the Agrippas ran off; especially after, I tell him what Joe said."
"We need to look at the CDs," Jezzz replied as she realized they didn't have much time before they called Joe. After they reviewed the CD on Nephilim abilities, repeatedly, they stared at each other in shock.
"No one prepared me for this. How could any of us know about this? If I were at war, I'd have quite a definite edge. If it was peace, I'd be great in a circus act," he replied as he shook his head in amazement.
"This is no circus act that they're preparing for. It's about wakeup time for Joe. Let's go have some lunch," she replied.
Young Herod stopped her, "Jezzz, I've decided what to do."
"I've got to take Joe's place and make those drops. Can you find the girls and get in touch with them with what we know? Can you tell them about the danger they're in? I need to find out who the top ten Nephilims are. I can't kill them, but I can find out so someone else can. If we can stop them and stop those Jesus Priests replacements, we can turn this around. Nothing would hurt Judas as much as that."
"We don't know who the Italian contact is," she replied.
"I know. Let's get into this guy's head a little and see how tightly strung he is. Maybe there's something we've learned about our abilities that can get him to tell us."
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