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| Part eight: showdown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the no man's land that stood between the Warzone and the respectable section of Eco - Thor and his many followers had assembled. For too long - the man he sought had not surfaced and if Skamms would not come to him - he - would go to Skamms! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Is this a wise course of action my lord?" Dreven asked. Thor's hand shot over and gripped the Setite by the neck. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The coward - has chosen to hide - I will find him - I will deal with him," he stated coldly - instantly releasing him. It was then that Dreven saw something he didn't like the look of slowly approaching. A small gathering of kindred - heading their way - being led by the prince. "Ho - what's this?" he muttered. Within moments - the armed party was standing several meters away from them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "This - is my city - you want to play - you do so by my rules," Axis stated seriously. Thor glared at the prince - his eyes pulsed a silver aura. The cloudless sky began to blow. Storm clouds began to form and grew darker and darker until all natural light was eclipsed. "Save the pallor tricks. You want to try to take Skamms down - be my guest - but I will not have you turning my city into your battlefield," he warned. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Be wary of how you speak foul one - you are in the presence of a god," Glitter stated. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Be wary of how you speak - you are in the presence of the prince of Eco," Axis retorted. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I go where I please - I do as I will. I answer to no one save the father that sits above. If you wish to challenge my place here," Thor began. Energy began to sparkle and ripple through his hammer. Just then - a shotgun blast got everyone's attention. Everyone looked over and saw Skamms with some bikers - all of whom had weapons aimed at Dreven. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You went through all this trouble big boy and you would have started the party without me? I'm hurt," he stated coldly. He hopped from the bike and slowly made his way towards the kindred that claimed to be a god. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You? You are the one? The pretender?" Thor asked in modest disbelief. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Tell me when I'm supposed to feel insulted," he stated as his eyes darted over at the Setite. "Your boy called this dance - you try any tricks - my boys will blow you away," he hissed to the Setite - instantly returned his attention to the towering kindred that was glaring at him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You - are the one claiming mastery of the storm?" he asked in disbelief. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Wow - you are just too quick. You called me out you messed up lunatic. That doesn't happen a whole lot around these parts - most people know better," he stated as he stared Thor in the eye. His mind spaced out. He saw images of brutal wars spanning over thousands of years - beings of power beyond reason or understanding. But as quick as he saw the images - they were gone. He stepped away from the kindred before him. "Prince - get your people away from here," he muttered - in a fluid motion both shotguns in his possession were armed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Don't tell me you are scared," Axis goaded. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "There is more to this lunatic than meets the eye. There is something old about this one - very old," he muttered seriously. Thor slowly raised his hammer - the skies above seemed to move at his command. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I am a god foul one - the gods are by nature - old," Thor replied. Skamms leaped away from where he was just as a potent lightning bolt struck down where he had just been. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You are naught but a pretender to the power you wield," a familiar voice muttered. Thor looked over his shoulder and saw - Loki - smiling wickedly at him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Now is not the time - brother - I will deal with you after I deal with him," Thor muttered. Skamms looked over at the direction that Thor was talking - there was no one there - or was there? He closed his eyes and concentrated. He then opened his eyes and saw a wispy aura that talking to Thor. But what got his attention the most - was the fact that the aura around the hammer - and the ghost like form - were identical - and were like nothing - he had ever seen before. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What the fuck?" he muttered. Both Thor and Loki looked over at the Malkavian. Loki studied the crazy one that was before them and realized that - the vampire could see him. "I've heard about having inner demons - but you take that shit to a whole new level," he muttered. He aimed his gun at Loki and fired - the shot passed harmlessly through. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You can't stop me fool," Loki muttered - the wispy being began to slowly reform until he assumed his true guise. Skamms looked around and could tell that no one else could see the being - or creature that was beside Thor. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Never know unless you try," he retorted. He raised the gun to shoot. But Loki smirked. With a wave of his hand - one of the shotguns exploded in his hands. Skamms looked over and saw the smiling entity. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Do you wish to fight - or no?" Thor asked seriously. Skamms looked in disbelief at the hammer wielding kindred and over at where Loki was. Now even Thor couldn't see him! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What the fuck? What are you?" Skamms asked as he concentrated on healing his wounds. Loki quietly laughed and walked through Thor - who was blissfully unaware of the occurrence. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I am - a god - unlike the fool here. I am Loki - god of mischief. You look troubled - could it be - that you are starting to understand the gravity of the situation before you?" Loki asked. Skamms reluctantly backed away from the one that claimed to be a god. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "God? I don't buy that - no such animal," Skamms muttered. Loki's eyes glowed green. Skamms slowly floated up and felt as though he was being strangled. Everyone watching was unable to explain or understand what was going on. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "A cold world jaded you my friend - gods do exist. I am what you might call a forgotten god - lost to the sands of time - destined to be nothing more than something of fiction - and story," Loki stated as he flung Skamms towards his biker friends. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What a shame - and so charming a fellow too," Skamms muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You mock that which you have no chance of understanding - such a mortal trait," Loki muttered as he slowly stalked his way towards Skamms. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If you are a forgotten god - why didn't you stay forgotten?" Skamms asked - moving away from his biker allies. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Hmm. Since the fall of the order - and my people vanishing before a harsh and changing world - I watched the Ragnarock envelop us. The old ways - giving to the new. One by one they vanished - but I foresaw the end - and prepared. Unfortunately - my fool half brother - learned of my efforts and tried to stop me," Loki muttered. A green aura pulsed around Skamms - and began to contract around him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Arrgh! Uh - but here you - ah - are," Skamms muttered - forcing back the pain. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Of all the gods - I was by far the craftiest. But Odin - that old fool - he knew something was amiss - and so the fool cursed me - binding me to that fool of a brother of mine. My choices then were - to survive - as shadow of what I was - or accept the end of all that was - or could be," Loki muttered. Skamms looked over at a confused looking Thor and saw a trail of power - flowing from his hammer - into Loki. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Shadow - better than nothing eh?" Skamms strained as he heard ribs cracking. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Your sense of humor - I respect it. I even envy it. Not all could be so flippant in the face of their own demise. Any last words before you leave your world - to partake in the journey to the lands beyond?" Loki asked. Skamms began to growl as he began to channel all of his concentration. He could only have one shot - he let out a primal scream he stood up and fired! The shot missed Loki. He was about to finish off the enraged vampire when he realized what had been done. He slowly looked over his shoulder and saw that the blast had hit the hammer! "You fool - what have you done?" Loki muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The - spell of binding - I know little of magic - but old spells - had to be bound to something - ow - and it wasn't your brother - it was the hammer," Skamms muttered - coughing up blood. Loki was going to reply when Thor cried out. He looked and watched as the kindred fell to the ground - and watched mortified as a fine mist slowly escaped from his body. Skamms looked over and watched the mist take on the form of what had to be - the true god of thunder - Thor! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Brother?" Loki muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "For over six hundred years - you have haunted me," Thor muttered as he raised his hammer to the sky. Powerful winds began to blow. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Do not do anything foolish," Loki warned. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Your time - is done deceiver. I will end now - what I should have so long ago! Odin!" he echoed. Torrential rains pounded down - Skamms watched as the two gods were carried up into the heart of the tempest. Just then - the sky seemed to crack open - a light brighter than anything Skamms had ever seen flashed down! A deafening explosion shook the heavens - then darkness... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Over where the prince and the others were watching - they were trying to make sense of what they had seen. They had seen Skamms being attacked by some power - that no one else could detect - then Thor collapsed when a moon shot managed to hit his hammer. By the look of things - even Dreven and his crew were equally confused by what had transpired. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What - has happened here?" Axis asked hesitantly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I - have no idea. I do not know the full range of what had happened - but I felt powerful energies being released - and then they were gone. By the look of it though - I would saw that Skamms saw something - we missed," the Tremere Primogen replied. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Sire - Skamms is out of it. We should use this situation to deal with a potent threat to the city," the Ventrue Primogen suggested. "We may not get such a chance again sire," he pointed out. Axis was going to agree when he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He quickly turned around and saw a cloaked person watching them from the shadows. But in the blink of an eye - the person was gone. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We're leaving," he muttered dryly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Sire?" the Ventrue began. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If you want his head - then you try to take it! I am here because that hammer wielding lunatic posed a threat to my city - a threat that has now passed. Stay or go - the choice is yours," Axis interrupted. With a wave of his hand - him and the others began to head back into Eco. Esamuel Banks looked over at the unmoving Malkavian and back at the departing kindred and began to curse under his breath. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Over where Glitter and the others were - Dreven looked at the unmoving body of the kindred that was Thor. Just by a casual glance he could tell that the man was not as he was just a few moments before - but he was still alive. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Thor?" Glitter muttered as she knelt down and did what she could to revive him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Is he gone?" Raven asked hesitantly. Dreven was going to answer when Thor began to sit up. The hammer was still in his hand - but one of the runes was badly damaged. He slowly looked around at a place that looked distinctly foreign to him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Where is this place?" he asked seriously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What - what is the last thing you remember?" Dreven asked hesitantly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The army - we were laying siege to a castle - I noticed a cave - this hammer was there - I saw a flash of light - heard voices - then darkness," he answered looking at the hammer closely. Dreven slowly knelt before the confused kindred. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Do you remember who you are?" he asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I - I am Thor," he said in a distant voice. Dreven quietly laughed and lightly hit him on the shoulder. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You had us worried old boy. We feared that we lost you. We should depart this place - my lord," he hypnotically suggested. Thor looked around and saw the unmoving body of the Malkavian. "My lord - this is an odd world - an even odder time that by some stretch of the imagination has forgotten you. We must forge outward - and make the masses remember your name once more - what say you?" he asked. Thor nodded and looked over at the Setite. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Yes - they must remember and never forget. Let us leave - this odd place," Thor said as Glitter and Raven helped him up. Dreven looked over at Skamms and shook his head. Some dark struggle had happened just now - but what it was - he did not know. the bikers watched as the gathering began to walk away. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You think he's a goner?" one of the bikers asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "He was pretty flipped out. He was talking to himself," another added. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I've seen lots of Mooks do that though," another pointed out. Just then Skamms gasped as sat up. His hands were shaking as he frantically looked around. He was about to bolt when one of the bikers slapped him across the face. Skamms slowly calmed down and focused on the man that had hit him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I needed that," he muttered. Normally he abhorred being helped - but in this situation he didn't object. "Did - you people see any weird shit just happen?" he hesitantly asked. The bikers looked at each other - unsure of how to reply. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Like what?" one asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "A freaky storm? The sky opening up? Any of that?" he asked hesitantly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Uh - look man - all we saw was you getting ready to fight that Thor guy - then you flipped out or something. It was as if you were talking to yourself. There was that one moment when you floated up - but other than that," another biker stated. Skamms slowly looked up at the sky and shook his head. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Let us never speak of this again," he muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Works for me - I don't even know what the hell went down here. But there was that one guy - over by the prince's crew. He wanted a piece of you something bad," one biker pointed out. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The Tremere and I - we have a sort of hate - hate thing going on," Skamms muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Yeah - but it wasn't him. it was that businessman - that Ventrue. He looked real pissed when the prince called the troops home," he replied. the answer completely caught Skamms off guard. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The Ventrue Primogen? Banks? That guy?" he asked in disbelief. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Unless you know of another," he replied. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Well - that is just shity. I wonder what his beef with me is. I'll figure it out when my insides aren't a compacted mess. Remember that place I mentioned before we left?" he asked weakly. The biker nodded. "Take me there - now if you so please," he added sarcastically. The bikers helped him onto a bike and then raced away - back towards the heart of the Warzone. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Epilogue... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Several hours before dawn - Esamuel Banks was pacing back and forth. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I take it - he survived," a lesser Ventrue asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "He will pose problems for me if he is not dealt with. He has dealt with Fay - demons - and now - gods - and every time he has managed to cheat final death! My time is rapidly approaching. He is hurting now - weak even. All retainers are to go out and find him! at all costs - Skamms must not live beyond tomorrow!" he ordered. The lesser Ventrue nodded and hurried away. "You may have the devil's luck with you - but all luck runs out - and when yours does - I will be there," he concluded grimly as he stromed towards his private study. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The end? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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