Chapter Six: the plot thickens
By Richard LeBlanc
Early the next night, back at the Wealthy Traveler, Mother was hearing a report from the three that were trying to find her childer Pretty. When she heard what they had to report - she was almost enraged.
"What?!" she exclaimed.
"We sighted her near a bar but lost her." one repeated.
"There's more - go on." Mother began as her hands began to twitch.
"When we lost her - we noticed some teenage punk. He was laid out and had a garbage can lid on him. He said that she hurried away - so we rushed away to follow." One began.
"That was when you lost her?" she asked.
"Yes Mother." The second answered.
"I know there is more." She commented.
"Yes Mother, there is. Last night while we were searching, we ended up at the City Block Plaza. We noticed a scene being caused and stopped to take a look. Down four or five levels - some girl was ranting as to how some man was fucking her before his whole family. We didn't make the connection at first - but then we recognized her." the other one added.
"It was Pretty." Mother said almost grinding her teeth.
"Yes. We hurried down to get her, but by the time we did, she was lost in the crowd. A few moments later - the kid we saw in the alley swan dived from the fifth floor and slatted into some statue. When he recovered from the fall he - waved at Pretty." The second added.
"You saw her again - and didn't get her?" she asked hesitantly.
"Again - by the time we were able to get through the crowds - she was long gone." The first of the three answered. Mother shook her head and slowly walked over to her chair.
"I can't let my emotional attachment to her hinder me anymore. That little bitch is to be considered a threat. I would prefer her to be taken and returned to me - but if that isn't possible - kill her." she instructed. The three nodded.
"And - as for this - teenager that is helping her - I want him taken very much alive. I want to teach him a very important lesson personally." She continued with a look of hate in her eyes.
"It will be done Mother." The last of the three said. They all bowed politely and hurried out of the room. Once they were gone, Mother looked over at a picture of the missing childer.
"Why did you have to turn insane?" she asked herself. She placed the picture face down and shook her head. She then got up and walked out of her room. As soon as she was out. All present stopped what they were doing and looked over at her.
"You have news Mother?" one asked.
"None good I'm afraid. My daughter Pretty is still missing, my new thrall Skamms has gone missing - AGAIN, and now I have learned that some teenage kindred is aiding my daughter. But, we now know where the bastard Samson and his crew are gathering." She replied calmly.
"Do we go there and destroy the plague-bearers now?" one Dreamer asked eagerly. Mother smiled at the thought but shook her head. That would be far too easy.
"Not yet my sweet. I was thinking of a less direct approach. My spies tell me that the Archon has learned of our presence in the city and has told the prince. Already they are planning to stop our efforts to purge the evil that is the Iron Fist. I have dispatched some people to relay the location of where the enemy is. Let them sully their hands with their unclean blood. We will finish off those that think escape is possible." Mother replied.
"But what of those who will survive this crossfire? They will not be pleased with us." one asked. If that was a serious concern to her, she did not let it show.
"As pathetic as those lowly dogs are - they are formidable fighters. Should those loyal to the prince attempt a direct confrontation with them - they shall lose many men. They will be in no position to detain us. If they are in such a position - they will have the simple choice as to fight us or let us leave. Either way - we will be free to continue on our way." She replied rationally.
"So when do we make our move?" another asked.
"I will dispatch my scouts to leak the information when the rest of our numbers arrive." She answered.
"You are calling - all?" one timidly asked.
"As many as can answer. This is no mere boarder skirmish - this will be our time. We will deliver a message to those of that cursed line. That message is that Earth is a gift that belongs to the Dreamers and we will not let it be tainted by their wretched likes anymore. In the name of her sacred highness Princess Tyminia we will succeed!" Mother said triumphantly. All there cheered.
***
At a location in the Warzone, over fifty kindred were gathered in a warehouse. Many had numerous scars. Many wore various times of armor that spanned back one thousand years plus. All of them had a look of fierce determination that was not to be denied.
"My brothers of blood!" a strong voice called out. All looked up and saw Samson. He was perched up in the rafters some thirty feet up. He hopped from his stance and landed gracefully before those that were assembled.
"The hour of our vengance draws near. Soon we will humble those arrogant whores and finally put them in their place." He stated loudly. One of the warriors stepped forward.
"Forgive me if I seem doubting Samson, but you said this before. How will this time be any different from the hundreds of altercations we have had with the whore-queens?" he asked seriously.
"Normally I would have killed you on the spot for questioning my judgement - but no. That is a valid question - one that many of you share is it not?" Samson asked. The others looked from face to face and slowly agreed.
"Psycho Fangs, come on in!" Samson called out. The large loading door opened up. A street gang of twenty made their way in. Everyone looked at the older looking fighters and recognized many for their incredible accomplishments.
"For this - I called in a few favors. Revolutionites, come on in!" he called out. Just then, another twenty kindred dressed military uniforms stepped out of Obfuscation.
"I put out calls to other sects - but they said they had other plans." Samson stated as the large gathering assembled into one unit. He walked over and looked at the large gathering.
"By our count sir - we are the only sects left. The others were hit hard from Camerella ambushes and other such misfortunes. It is rumored that some of them survived the slaughter - but they are just rumors." The current leader of the Revolutionites stated.
"May they sit with Prince Graven. They shall be avenged. I have figured out a way to turn the whore-queens' favored strategy against them. In the past - we have been careless. We rushed head long into the battle as our ancestors did before us. Always, those Dreaming whores seemed to find a way to minimize their loss and maximize ours. This time - it will be different. I have sent spies out to spread rumors that we will be housed somewhere in the slums near the center of Eco. By this point, that whore Mother will now have the exact location of where we are supposedly based." He stated confidently.
"How will that help us?" the leader of Psycho Fangs asked.
"Simple, they will 'warn' those poor noble kindred that follow their prince that we are there. They will attack, much as they have done in the past - and those pompous whores will pop out from where they are hiding to try to finish us off." He continued.
"Again, pardon my ignorance - but how does that help us?" he repeated with an apathetic stare. Samson sighed and shook his head. Such a gross lack of insight is what kept this war going on as long as it had.
"Simple my good man, we set it up to look as though we are there. While you people were setting up here. I procured several lost souls. They will temporarily be blessed with the gift of being in our ranks when the time is right. The noble kindred will bust in and find them - fight-fight-fight - Dreamers will pop out of their hiding place - fight-fight-fight - the cannon fodder gets slaughtered - we step in and catch all of the whores with their proverbial pants down." He explained.
"I do not approve of such base tactics Samson - but such a plan could work." The leader of the Psycho Fangs stated rationally. Samson smiled and allowed himself to laugh.
"Such tactics as you call them - are the same kind that those whore-queen Dreamers have been using against us for centuries. That - is what makes this so devilishly clever. How could they ever expect us to fight their little chess game - at their level? Answer - they can't!" he stated seriously.
"What of that Archon?" the leader of the Revolutionites asked.
"He has put word out to his boss. They will be sending in a shit load of unwanted cannon fodder our way fast. I set some deterrents to delay them for a couple of hours. That is the best I could do without attracting even more attention to my plot. By my calculations - we will have roughly three hours to finish the job and scatter. For the sake of practicality - I rounded that number down to two." He replied. he hopped up onto an empty crate and looked at the crowd with a wide smile.
"When news of the fall of the whore-queen Mother filters out of this horrid place - that victory will be worth any cost. Our time - is finally at hand my brothers! The fall of the Dreamers shall not be my prophecy - it - will be - my Destiny!" he shouted out. Everyone cheered. Everyone began to chant out his name.
***
At that moment, at the rail yard where Nenia had perished months ago, Snapps was looking around the quiet place. In his mind flashes of images appeared. He saw the Fey Geddon seemingly talking to him. He then saw the look in Nenia's eyes just before she perished.
"This is seriously fucked. I must have seen that shit from the shadows - but why did I forget?" He muttered to himself. It was then that he heard sound coming from the shadows of the building beside him.
"What are you doing here?" a voice asked. He looked over his shoulder and saw a surly looking thug. Normally he would enjoy messing up someone like that, but for some reason he just wasn't in the mood.
"I heard that this was where Nenia went poof." He replied calmly.
"You knew her?" he asked.
"Yeah - she hated me with a passion. Pranking her was fun." He replied.
"You pranked her?" he asked.
"Yup. Nothing big - but she was easily steamed." He answered.
"Were you there when she died?" Snapps asked.
"Me and some friends were watching. But I heard from a reliable source that she isn't dead." he replied. the news instantly caught his attention.
"Tell on." He requested.
"Well, a friend of a friend of mine said that he saw her and a bunch of chicks walking near the high end of town. Then I heard from another source that Skamms himself said that he saw her." he replied.
"High end you say? Wealthy Traveler sort of area?" Snapps asked.
"Now that you mention it - that posh place was a stone's throw away from where she was seen. How did you know?" the person asked. Snapps slowly got up and looked in the exact direction that the deluxe hotel was.
"Some weird shit happened and I woke up in the cellar of that place. I'm a fun lovin' guy - but this is starting to sound like no laughing matter." He replied seriously.
"Uh - ah - uh?" the thug strained. Snapps hopped away and looked over at the spasming kindred. He watched as he tensed up completely and then slowly relaxed. When his eyes slowly locked onto his - he knew that something was wrong.
"Oh shit - you not good." Snapps muttered.
"No - for a useless thing like you - I suppose I wouldn't be." the thug said in a distinctly female voice. Snapps stepped back and looked at the manly thug and shook his head.
"I've heard of going butch - but please." He taunted.
"Joke now while you can. It took some effort to find you - and now that I have I will punish you accordingly for stealing her away from me!" he hissed in a female voice. Snapps did his best to evade the brutish thugs attacks.
"Hold up? Steal who? And while we're on the subject - who the hell are you?" Snapps asked seriously. He leaped away from him and stood ready for whatever he might do.
"You turned my precious daughter against me you little worm. Now don't move!" he ordered. Snapps looked at how the vampire before him was staring at him.
"Uh, I don't think he has that sort of ability missy." He reminded.
"Apparently not. But that will not stop me!" he hissed. He charged at Snapps who easily stayed one step ahead of his attacker. He then reached into his patented bag of tricks and pulled out a slingshot.
"I did something to your daughter? I didn't do anything to anyone's daughter. What are you talking about crazy man-lady-whatever?" he asked. He discreetly took out a modified dart/cherry bomb.
"Try to lie - it won't save you! I've seen through their eyes! I've seen the two of you together!" he angrily hissed. It was disturbing Snapps on many levels hearing such a manly looking man talking like such a pretty girl.
"I told you - with her? You mean Pretty?" he asked curiously. The sound of her name caused the man to stop for a moment and glare at the young Malkavian.
"Yes. Tell me where she is and I promise your end will be swift." He ordered. Snapps quickly placed his projectile in his weapon and shook his head.
"I would sooner run you out of town on a rail then tell you anything - get it? Rail? Rail yard?" he taunted. The thug growled and charged at him. in a quick action he fired the dart. With incredible accuracy - it flew into the thug's mouth and exploded the back of his head.
"Now that - is what I call an backwards burp!" he taunted. The thug fell to the ground. As he did a wispy mist escaped the unmoving body and slowly began to take on a human form - the form of Mother - but recognized to Snapps as Nenia.
"Nenia? What? That chick is your daughter?" he asked.
"Yes! Now please return her to me." she requested seriously.
"No way! She rules! She's funny - hot - all that stuff. What's the matter? Jealous?" he teased. Mother forced back her rage and glared at the Malkavian.
"As a matter of fact - yes. Please return her." she admitted.
"Man - you look serious about this." Snapps stated.
"I am. I need her more than I care to admit." She said softly.
"Well, since you put it that way - NO!" he retorted.
"What?" she hesitantly asked.
"I said - no-no-no-no-no-no!" he sang as he did a little dance.
"No matter. If I can't have her - at least I will have you." She concluded as her image vanished. All went quiet. Something told Snapps that Nenia was just stalling for time.
"Uh-oh - me have bad feeling." He muttered.
"Clever Mook." A female voice stated. He looked over his shoulder and saw one of the three women that he had met in the alley. He slowly began to back away.
"Leaving so soon?" another voice asked. He quickly turned around and saw another of the three. His eyes looked over at one and then over at the other. He slowly moved away towards one of the empty buildings.
"Don't leave yet - the party's just starting." A third voice stated. He turned around and saw the third woman that was there in the alley. He remembered what Pretty was able to do - from what she had showed him in the garbage room. The inverted burp gag wasn't going to work on them.
"Oh - Callgone take me away..." he muttered to himself.
"We are here to escort you to meet Mother - but we really hope that you chose to resist. After covering for her the other day - we owe you one." One stated. His eyes panned from one to the other.
"Nah, don't sweat it - really." He stated. He faked left and then bolted right. He then found himself unable to move. He looked over and saw one of the three pointing at him.
"Don't leave just yet." She began. She flicked her finger at him. the Malkavian was flung back as though a small cannon shot him. The three watched in amusement as he bounced an rolled until he came to a complete stop. He slowly got up to his feet and healed the wounds to the best of his ability. Whatever she did really hurt.
"That wasn't nice." He said with a frown. His eyes locked on the woman that had done that to him. The others watched as the two stared each other down. The two women were feeling confident in their sister's abilities at first, but when they saw her beginning to twitch - they knew that he was winning.
"Stop it!" one shouted.
"Too late queenie - frenzy!" Snapps whispered. The two Dreamers looked at their sister and watched her face contort with rage. She let out an angry scream as she charged at Snapps. In response to the charge, Snapps danced away laughing. The two watched as their sister chased after the taunting Mook.
"You will not get away!" the second stated. With a wave of her hand, the ground seemed to warp and twist. The Malkavian tried to maintain his footing but fell face first to the ground. He looked around at the chaos that was happening around him and saw the second one watching him.
"Now - you stop that!" he hissed. Within seconds everything was back to normal. The Dreamer that was in full frenzy leaped at him. In a panic he slapped her across the face. He was sincerely surprised when she reacted as though he had punched her.
"Glass jaw type - huh?" he muttered. he reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a funny looking rubber chicken. He skipped over to the mildly dazed Dreamer. He arched his arm up and then swung it down. The chicken made a clanging noise as it slammed into her jaw.
"What the hell?" the remaining Dreamer stated. Snapps looked over at her and smiled.
"What? You never heard of a cast iron rubber chicken before?" he asked with an insane smile. Just then he found himself being flung away from the dazed Dreamer.
"This is far from over punk. Uh, you may be good - but sooner or later - we will take you down." The bruised Dreamer slurred as she staggered up to her feet.
"You little ladies have no sense of humor. I'll need a special punch line for you three." He said to himself. He tossed the metal chicken aside and watched as they slowly moved towards him.
"I know - sleep!" he exclaimed. The three tensed up as their eyes locked on his. Tauntingly he hummed out loud a common nursery lullaby. The three tried to fight it. They tried to blow the effect off - but they three staggered and fell to the ground.
"Hurry-hurry." He stated with an insane giggle. He rushed over to where they fell and pulled out a marker. He quickly doodled on their faces and stepped back to admire his handy work.
"Don't forget me - I won't forget you." Snapps taunted as he skipped away. On the sleeping kindred's faces were swear words and other assorted doodles. He then rushed back and looked at them again. There was something missing here for the prank to be perfect.
"This is good - but it needs a little edge." He stated. He fished around in his bag of tricks in the hope of finding something special. He took out a crude looking hammer and three stakes that were painted like toys.
"What's that Mr. Stake? You want to find a happy home? Okay." He said madly. He placed the stake over one woman's chest and slammed it in. the impact of the wood digging into her chest woke her up. Snapps wound up and hit her on the head with his hammer. She fell down unconscious.
"That was funny - but that wasn't it." He said as he tossed the other two stakes away. He then snapped his fingers. He reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out some wire, some duct tape and a huge roll of Renold's Plastic Wrap.
"This is going to be so cool." He said madly.
***
Much later - early in the day. The three slowly began to awaken from the effect of what Snapps had done to them. They tried to move but found that they were stuck.
"What?" one began. It was then that they noticed that they were wrapped up in plastic wrap and wire and duct tape. One looked over and saw a note that was stapled to a railway track.
"Hope you enjoy your stake sandwich?" she read.
"C-can't move - bastard put a stake in me." the one in the middle strained. The one on top rolled over so that they were all on their side. They tried to break free but were unable.
"When we get free..." the one that was on the bottom began. It was then that they noticed the sun began to rise. The three watched in horror as the shadows of the night began to evaporate as the light of a new day rushed to greet them.
To be continued...
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