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| Part eight: showdown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The next gathering called by the prince happened almost two weeks later. The prince needed to collect his thoughts - and he wanted to make sure that whoever or whatever the Gangrel sent after Skamms had time to succeed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Within one of the many boardrooms in his tower complex - the prince looked over at the stone faced Gangrel. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Well? It has been a week? Is Skamms a memory?" he hesitantly asked. The Gangrel Primogen slowly got up and looked at the gathering. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "She found him. They fought - but somehow - he prevailed. Her body was found about two weeks ago," he replied. Man Basher quietly whistled and made a hand gesture to the Toreador. He sighed and reluctantly handed her the money. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "This - is lunacy. What does it take to kill this pest? He is not immortal," the prince called out - hitting the table. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If the battle happened shortly after the body was found - and we have heard and seen no sign of Skamms - maybe she hurt him bad," Grater suggested. The thought eased some of the angst from the prince's mind - but not enough. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I do not want him hurt - I want him dead," he retorted. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "One might be able to lead to the other though," The Tremere Primogen suggested. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I do not have - the luxury of time. With each passing day - he becomes more brazen. He will not respect the authority of the prince - he has no respect for the traditions - or any of you. For the security and safety of the city - he must be found and dealt with. Now I know that you all haven't been putting your hearts into this. I can understand why. This lunatic is a menacing little bastard. And he is capable of just about anything. We have all seen what his strength - and determination have been able to do. But if we allow him to hold us in the grip of terror - I shudder to think what will happen to Eco," he began. "I want a unified city. One prince - one council - one voice. Now - if you all seriously have no problem with Skamms running free - if you believe - that he is not a threat to each of us - and a threat to the masquerade - look at what he has done. I will not overrule this vote - but please chose carefully. For even if he is just after me - what is to say that he won't be after one of you next? I am putting before you a vote. Does the blood hunt on the kindred Skamms of the Malkavian clan - stand - or fall?" he asked as he sat down on his chair. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Motion put before the table - the blood hunt on Skamms. Grater - is your Primogen present - or are you the voice of your clan?" Glare asked. Grater stood up and nodded. "Then we will start with you," he asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Although he has not acted against my clan - or myself - his actions - are too extreme. He acts without thinking. He is a loose cannon - and a potential threat to the masquerade," Grater stated as he turned his thumb down. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "One against Skamms. Clan Tremere?" he asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I understand the princes need for unity on this vote - but again - I must abstain for reasons of clan," he replied calmly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If the vote passes - will you honor the hunt?" the prince asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If the vote is passed," he agreed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "One against - one abstain. Slap Happy - how do the Malkavians speak?" Glare asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I can not stand by this vote. My answer is the same," he replied. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "One against - one for - one abstain. Man Basher - your two cents worth?" Glare asked curiously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "My answer is unchanged. If I agree - what is to stop him from hunting down the rest of the anarch sects of Eco?" she replied calmly. Glare nodded and made a note of her answer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "One against - two for - one abstain. Is it safe to say that Venture will side with the prince?" Glare asked. The Ventrue Primogen stood up. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "He murdered our elder. Our vote is unchanged," he stated sternly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Murdered? I will add that to his list of charges. The count so far - two against - two for - one abstain. Gangrel?" he asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Unchanged. We hunt who and what we please," he replied calmly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Two against - two for - two abstain. Toreador - your vote will make or break this. What say you?" Glare asked. The Primogen slowly got up and looked at the rest of the council. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "My answer - remains unchanged," he replied. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "So be it. three votes against Skamms. The vote passes," Glare stated calmly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Will the Brujah honor this hunt?" the prince asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If he is within our territory - we will. If he is in the Warzone - no," she replied. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Will Gangrel honor the hunt?" the prince asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We do not need authority to hunt. If we desire to hunt him we shall. Your politics do not concern us," he replied coldly. The prince sighed and shook his head. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I suppose that will have to do. The blood hunt is called - go - find him - and bring him to justice - kindred justice," he stated. The council slowly got up and filtered out of the room. The prince leaned back in his chair and allowed himself to relax. With the city hunting his enemy - the chance of him surviving - greatly increased. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "That went well," the Primogen stated. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "It had to. If it hadn't - nothing would have changed. That lunatic would still come at me until one of us died - and the council would have done nothing. Now at least - they will be helping," he stated. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Is he really that much of a threat sire?" the Primogen asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "He was able to take down Talbot - does that give you a vague notion?" he retorted in disbelief. The Primogen sighed and shook his head. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I know that sire. But could there be another way of dealing with him? Everyone has a price after all - maybe find his?" the Primogen suggested. The prince shook his head and slowly walked over to where his assistant was. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Not this one. He knows that I had a hand in Axis' death. Or worse - knows that I ordered the hit in the first place. The only thing he will understand is brute force. If there is one thing I can teach you - it is this - know the ones that can't be dealt with - and know when to cut them loose," he stated as he walked out of the room. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The prince walked down the hall towards the elevator and tried to focus his chaotic thoughts. The doors before him opened and he stepped inside. He looked at the buttons and looked at the button that was where his sire's study was. In the past - whenever he was confused - or troubled or was planning something big - he would go there - talk with him - and all would be clear. But those days were gone. Oddly enough he pushed the button anyway. The elevator slowly went up for a few seconds and then stopped. The doors opened and he saw the old doors that led to his sire's study. He slowly walked over and found himself getting ready to knock. It was then that he remembered his sire was gone. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I can't believe he's gone," he muttered as he slowly opened the doors. The only light in the room - came from the fire that was blazing in the fireplace. Shadows danced all over the bookcases and walls. He shut the door behind him and slowly walked towards the fireplace. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Hiya prince," a disturbingly familiar voice taunted. He looked over his shoulder and saw Skamms holding a shotgun. "Nice digs," he added as he slowly moved towards the prince. Esamuel slowly backed away. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What are you doing here?" he asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Me? Just wanted to catch up on some light reading. How about you? Come to see your elder? I can arrange that you know," he commented - arming the gun. The prince slowly raised his hand. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Killing me won't change anything. The blood hunt will still stand," he warned. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Pish-posh. You think I care about that nonsense? How little you know me," he began. A blast of dragon's breath exploded into the prince's knee sending him to the floor. He looked up and saw Skamms slowly stalking his way towards him. "You see - we are a lot alike you and I - don't tell the others I said that though. We both know what it means to play in the shadows - the only difference is - I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty," he added seriously. The prince pulled himself away as best he could from the slowly approaching madman. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You won't get away with this," he muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Really? Riddle me this. How was I able to deuce your old man under your nose and all of your lackeys and still have time to grab a bite to eat? Answer - you paranoid security buffs worry so much about people listening in and learning something - that you make everything sound proof. Observe," he began as he shot another dragon's breath round into the prince's shoulder - almost severing the prince's arm. "See? Nothing. You boys like your privacy - and the hired help respects that. Your boy Talbot - he's good. But he was way too sane to deal with someone like me. That werewolf bitch - I wasn't expecting. How I pulled through that - hey - your guess is as good as mine," he stated as the prince looked at the madman. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What do you want?" the prince asked forcing back the pain. Skamms raised the gun and looked as though he was giving the matter some serious thought. He then shook his head and fired yet another round of dragon's breath into his other shoulder. The prince fell flat on his back and watched as Skamms slowly sat down on his chest and rested the still smoking barrel of the shotgun to his neck. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I want - a lot of things. Peace of mind. A past that doesn't cause me pain. Memories that don't make every living moment of my life a living hell. Can you do that? Can you make that happen?" he asked seriously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You going to kill me then?" the prince asked calmly. Skamms looked up and stared for a few moments at how the shadows seemed to dance. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "No," he replied calmly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "No? What is your game?" he asked hesitantly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Hey - you said the secret word. You see Axis - for all his many faults - I liked him. I had big plans for him - and someone whooshed in and zapped that away from me. Now - I know you had some beef with me - and that is the only reason I can think of. I mean - I said that the only person that would deal with him would be me - and someone else - made a liar out of me. Know anything about that?" he asked coolly - pressing the gun closer to his neck. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "If you know the answer - why not pull the trigger? You don't expect me to beg do you?" he asked indignantly. Skamms quietly laughed and removed the gun and slung it over his shoulder. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The problem is - I don't know. But I'm looking into it. You may have cut me off from a lot of people - but I still have reach in this city - even in this place. That was how I was able to ace your sire - and do all this to you. I will find out who ordered the assassination of Axis - and if you had any hand in it - I will make you wish - I finished - what I started," he stated as he hopped up to his feet and began to walk away. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Where - where are you going?" he asked in a mild panic. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Me? I'm leaving. Out of curiosity - I am wagering that I was the big issue on your agenda and that the rest of your calendar is pretty relaxed - am I right?" he asked coolly - looking back at the barely conscious prince. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What of it?" he retorted. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "No reason. The only reason your sire was found so quickly was because - he had other engagements that day. How long do you think it will be before your blue blood lackeys realize - or ponder - that something might be wrong?" Skamms asked - all color that was left in the prince's face drained. "Ah - you see my logic - good for you. To pass the time - watch the shadows. When I was locked up - that was all that kept me sane. Ta-ta prince," he concluded as he slowly walked towards the door. The prince watched as the man he had been hunting slowly opened and closed the doors to the room. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "H-help?" he weakly called out. the dancing shadows and silence - were his only answer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The end. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||