Blood For Blood, Babe
By: Aubrie1234
Watch your step around these words cause
They're gonna get you, they're gonna get you in the end
Swear it's not a disease
It's just a game of pretend
A game of pretend
- Horrible Kids, Set It Off
After returning to their hotel, sleeping arrangements changed to where Dmitri was sleeping on one of the beds while two of the Planeteers had to share one. It wasn't as bad as one would think, since the Planeteers had known each other for years, this was not a big deal. But much to Wheeler's surprise, Ma-ti and Kwame voted to share a bed instead of one of them sharing with Wheeler. He supposed they could do that, but it was kind of unusual, since he was usually the one sharing a bed. However, it was good that they gave him that, it would give him time to talk to Dmitri, because there were many things he wanted to discuss with the Russian man that he hadn't had a chance to before. Before the lights were out, he asked Dmitri to go out into the hallway with him and watched the blond man become nervous at the prospect. There was every reason for him to be nervous, but Wheeler tried to reassure Dmitri for his friends' sake with a smile.
"What, you expect me to pounce on you out there or something?"
"Perhaps..."
"Don't be so pessimistic!" And then they were out of the room. When he was sure the door was truly closed, Kwame got up from his reading and moved to the door to look through the peephole.
"What are you doing?" Ma-ti asked softly, almost afraid that they could possibly be heard through the thick oak door.
"I want to know what Wheeler is up to." Kwame glanced back and saw the boy's knowing expression, "Do you?" Ma-ti nodded.
"Do you also think he might have not been as truthful as we thought?"
"Yes." Kwame checked the peephole and found the other two men speaking, but from how Dmitri was looking scared, he doubted that what they were talking about was pleasant. He couldn't just barge out there, though, and possibly give away that he was spying on them, so he could only watch as the talk progressed. Slowly, though the blond was still nervous, Dmitri seemed to become less scared, and eventually he was calm again. It seemed the talk Wheeler wanted to give Dmitri was to calm him, but why not in the presence of Kwame and Ma-ti? But, just as he was about to pull away, Dmitri made a comment and what happened next nearly made Kwame gasp. In the blink on an eye, Wheeler had the Russian man pinned up against the wall with an angry look on his face. From his limited view through the peephole, Kwame wasn't able to see Dmitri's face but was sure the other man was terrified, because the Earth-bearer himself was a bit scared of the New Yorker's snarling face. Wheeler then spoke something to Dmitri before letting the other man go and turning to the door. Kwame moved back quickly and to his bed, placing a finger to his lips so that Ma-ti would know to stay quiet just as the door opened and Wheeler and Dmitri returned.
"Now that that's out of the way, we can go to bed." said the redhead.
"I'm not tired, actually." said the blond man, who didn't seem to be as scared as Kwame thought he would have after that sudden threat in the hallway, "I'm more of a...night person, I suppose you could say."
"Night owl, you mean." Wheeler corrected, "But if you're staying up, try not to wake us." The Fire-bearer also narrowed his eyes slightly and Dmitri got the hint.
"I get it." Dmitri nodded back and so they settled for the night and most slept, but they all had trouble going to sleep with all that was on their minds. In the morning, they found Dmitri dead asleep and they didn't have the heart to wake him, so they left him be. With nothing to do on after two days, they were tempted to go back to Hope Island, seeing as there was nothing to fix, but they decided to stay for a third day, despite Wheeler's argument. Upon losing said argument, the redhead went off in a huff, disappearing who-knows-where into the city.
"What was with him?" Gi asked, a little miffed herself after the argument, "It's like he hates to be here now!"
"Maybe he has a reason." Ma-ti said, and he didn't doubt that it was related to the secret Wheeler was hiding, "It could be related to what Dmitri said, about someone keeping him there before setting the fire."
"Do you think he might want to leave to keep Dmitri safe?" Kwame understood the point Ma-ti was getting at.
"Maybe." The boy shrugged.
"Well, until we have evidence that Dmitri's story is true, we are staying here for one more day." said Linka. The group then split off to do things for the day, but Ma-ti and Kwame kept close together to talk about what they knew. Ma-ti explained how Dmitri had been so scared of Wheeler and Kwame told of Wheeler's almost snow-white skin and his thinly-veiled threat, which seemed to make the mystery of their friend all the more foggier.
"Maybe they have the same secret and they both know it." said Kwame, "But that still does not explain all that we know."
"But..." Ma-ti frowned, then shook his head, "No, that can't be it."
"What is it? What are you thinking?"
"What if their secret, the whole reason why Wheeler wants to leave and the color of his skin, what if that all means he's a vampire?" Kwame considered the boy's reasoning and found it to be very likely.
"But then why did he not tell us?" asked the Earth-bearer.
"I don't know, and that's why I don't think it's right. He would tell us his secret if he thought it wasn't bad, wouldn't he?" Kwame knew of how close the Heart-bearer was to Wheeler, how they were almost brothers in a way, and knew Ma-ti was taking this a little hard. But he didn't know how to change the facts or how to word that Wheeler would have told them, so Kwame said, "I do not know, Ma-ti."
"Should we tell the others about what we know?"
"No. What we found may just be nothing and to speak of it when it might be false would probably end our friendship with Wheeler." Both now troubled by their findings, they returned to their room to relax, where Dmitri was still asleep. They gazed at the sleeping man, wondering how a single person could change everything they supposedly knew about their own friend, and turned away. Staring at Dmitri would give them no answers. They were interrupted by a knock at the door and, after exchanging a look, Kwame went to answer it. He checked the peephole first and, not recognizing the strange man outside, stayed quiet, wondering what the other wanted. He had never seen the other man before, strongly built with dark brown hair, but there was something about him that made Kwame feel anxious. It was also at that moment Dmitri awoke, yawning.
"What's going on?" he asked. Before he was answered, there was another knock at the door, harder this time.
"Nothing good." the Earth-bearer surmised, "You should go hide." Dmitri nodded in understanding and moved to the window, crouching on the sill with ease and using the curtains to hide himself. Once he was hidden, you couldn't see him at all. It was perfect and the Planeteers wondered how he could do it so easily. Another harsh knock came to the door and Kwame finally opened it, revealing the man.
"May I help you?" the African man asked, a little annoyed.
"I was just wondering if you've seen this man about." The stranger, speaking in a German accent, showed Kwame a picture of Dmitri, which surprised the Planeteer.
"Maybe I have. Why?"
"He's a very dangerous man." The stranger showed Kwame his wallet, which contained a badge, sort-of in the style of how American law enforcement showed their badges, "My name is Michael Kahl, and the man I showed you is a fugitive I'm trying to apprehend." Ma-ti, unsure of the man's intentions or truth, used his Heart power to do a sweep of the feelings in the room. Kwame was wary and suspicious. 'Liar' was blinking heavily above Michael's head and he felt confident and sure of himself, and Dmitri was putting off so much fear Ma-ti wondered how no one else could feel it. Whatever was going on, Dmitri knew Michael and was afraid of the other man.
"Well, we have not seen him, so good day-" Before Kwame could fully close the door, Michael put a foot in, preventing that.
"Not so fast." He held up a gun, "As per my status as a foreign agent, I have every right to arrest you both for holding a fugitive." And that was when Dmitri fled. The curtains blew open as the blond fled from the window to the outside and the Planeteers were alarmed. The window was too high, he wouldn't survive the fall! But then Michael rushed in and shot at the window, trying to get at the blond man. There was no sound, so he must have used a silencer of some sort. And upon going over to the window and examining his work, he gave a snarl.
"Got away again." He turned and pointed the gun at the two Planeteers, "Well now, since you've both seen this and know what that monster is, I don't think I can let you leave."
"Monster?" Ma-ti questioned, having felt no bad intentions from Dmitri from the start, "He's only a normal man!" Michael scoffed.
"That thing is anything but. Now come on, you two are coming with me." And that was how the Earth- and Heart-bearers found themselves under arrest/kidnapped from their own hotel room by a man-who-could-possibly-be-a-secret-agent-but-probably-wasn't.
After being captured, Ma-ti and Kwame learned a few things of what was going on and found them hard to believe, but it wasn't that hard if you also counted the fact that they had encountered aliens before. As it was, apparently Dmitri was the vampire they had been searching for and had only recently moved to Volgograd, Michael was a supernatural hunter and had come to the city to chase down Dmitri and end his life because of what he was. But the Planeteers found that they couldn't allow that, Dmitri was just a person, he didn't ask for any of this so why should he be hunted down like an animal? But at least Linka, Wheeler, and Gi weren't involved, that was their only relief... Now they just had to find a way to save both Dmitri and themselves.
"Thing is about those undead monsters," Michael mused, walking around Ma-ti and Kwame, who were tied to chairs but not back-to-back (he wasn't stupid), "if their prey gets away, they won't stop until they hunt it down or if their attention is drawn away. My suspicions are that he'll come for the two of you because he marked you as his prey and he's not gonna let you go that easily. But if he doesn't, then I'll need to get rid of witnesses." Michael gave a sigh, "Being a hunter is a dirty job and sometimes I don't like it, but if it means I can rid of the monsters in the world, then I'm willing to do what it takes to make that a reality."
"You do not have to do this." Kwame said, "Who would believe us if we said vampires were real?" Michael gave a short laugh.
"Plenty of people! I know who you and your friends are, I'm not stupid. You're the Planeteers, and you can summon a supernatural hero for Earth! He's not on my list, but if you guys said something about vampires being real, then people would be inclined to believe you. That's why I can't let you go."
"But we could keep it a secret!" said Ma-ti, "And Captain Planet is needed to protect the world! Do you want to take him away and watch the world crumble while you hunt monsters?"
"There are plenty of people in the world, there are always other Planeteers. I'm sure there are other people who can control the elements just like you two." Michael turned his head, as if he had heard something the other two hadn't, and smiled, "Looks like we've got a visitor." Ma-ti used his Heart power to search for who could have arrived, but it wasn't Dmitri; to his horror, it was the girls, possibly having tried to track down the boys, they found themselves here.
"Stop, it's too dangerous!" Ma-ti warned, "He's armed!"They understood the warning and tried to leave, but Michael had various tricks rigged in the warehouse. They were not going to get out easily. Pulling a controller from his pocket, he remotely locked all the doors to the building; there was no point to the windows, as they were too high to reach and it would take too long for Linka to use her Wind powers to get everyone out. However, he wasn't about to go off into the darkness immediately, he wasn't stupid. With a grim smile, he pulled out a pocket knife and went closer to the males.
"I'm sorry for this, I really am." he rested the blade against Ma-ti's skin, "But if it means you help me hunt down the beast, then that's fine with me." The boy hissed in pain as the blade cut and Kwame burned in rage. Michael was no better than the monsters he hunted if he was willing to do this to Ma-ti, even though the boy wasn't really a boy anymore. He was still the youngest, though, and that made the events no better. Michael gave a sound of approval when he saw blood begin to well up from the cut, and then he turned quickly at the sudden sound of crates falling over and a small thud. Taking out his gun, he slowly approached the sound, glancing around and back at his captives to make sure they weren't trying to escape, and disappeared into the darkness.
"Are you okay, Ma-ti?" Kwame questioned.
"It hurts a little, but I'll be fine. I've felt worse than this, you know that." They tried to get out of their bonds, but the ropes held tight. Then came a crash and the sound of rushing water and the boys were sure the girls had come up with a plan and put it into action against Michael. Then, to their relief, came Linka and Gi.
"There you are!" the blond woman cried, the two leaning down to release the captive Planeteers, "We had wondered where you had gone!"
"Thanks for sending us that distress signal, Ma-ti." added Gi.
"What? But I hadn't." This made the girls give looks of surprise.
"But if felt like you. Who could have-?"
"Not so fast." Michael stepped out of the shadows, his gun leveled at them. He was holding the side of his head, as if in pain, and was glaring at Gi and Linka, "That's the last time I let my guard down around you Planeteers. And if you thought I had one gun on me, you were so wrong!" Linka and Gi slowly stood at the hunter's urging and he had them take their rings off, along with Ma-ti's and Kwame's. He continued, "And if your fire friend comes to the rescue, you'd better hope he has a better plan than you did!" Before Michael could do anything else to the girls, there was a crash from one of the windows. Feeling that this time, the building was truly being invaded by the vampire he sought, Michael swung around and focused to get a shot. He only missed the moving shadow because one of the girls kicked his legs out from under him, and his shot was loud and wild.
"That's it!" the hunter snarled, getting back his feet and pointing the gun at the Planeteers, "Whether you're bait or not, I've had it with your antics!" And just as he was about to fire, he found himself on the ground again, and not because his legs had been swept under him. No, he had been pushed to the ground by something heavy landing on his back and this was the first time sing he had arrived in Russia that he felt fear. In seconds his gun was ripped out of his grip, his hands were pinned behind his back, and his head was pushed into the floor by a strong, clawed hand on his neck. He tried to get a look at his attacker, but the monster's grip wasn't giving him much room to move, until it allowed him to get a look. And he had to say, he was surprised at who had him pinned: The redheaded Planeteer, the one that had been missing, had also been one of his prey the whole time. The other had every right to be angry at Michael, but he didn't seem to be. It was made worse when the vampire smiled and leaned down to whisper in his ear, making his pulse spike.
"You don't think I can't hear it, can't smell it? The fear pumping through your veins, just as tasty as the blood? I am a hunter, and the best part about that is watching my prey run for their lives. The thrill of the chase, or even watching them cower in fright before I give the final blow. That's why I love how fearful you are right now. And if you so much as look at my friends in the wrong way again, I will not hesitate to end the game then and there, killing you on the spot. Or worse. Do you understand?" Michael nodded as Dmitri ventured out of the shadows as well as Wheeler leaned away.
"Help the others." the Fire-bearer ordered, dropping his smile, "I'll deal with this guy."
"You're not gonna kill him, are you?" Dmitri asked as Wheeler dragged Michael to his feet.
"I just said I wasn't, didn't I? But I'm not gonna let the guy go scot-free, that's for sure." Wheeler gave his shocked friends a sad look and said to them, "I'm sorry." It was all he could say, and then he was taking Michael away with him to do who knows what to the hunter (after handing the Rings to Dmitri after finding them on Michael's body). The predator had become the prey and the prey was going to get revenge in the most non-lethal way possible...
Dmitri didn't scare the Planeteers too much. They had a suspicion that he had been the vampire they had been looking for, but they had not expected their own best friend to have the same secret. And to have not told them for who knows how long? That made it worse. Gaia also not telling them a secret they knew she had to have known was also not making things better. And so, after the returned to their hotel rooms and Dmitri asked them to wait on Wheeler's behalf, they stewed with their thoughts. Ma-ti even wondered about contacting Gaia to ask her about this, but decided not to, wanting to hear what Wheeler had to say first, but it was around an house before the Fire-bearer returned, almost as if he intentionally didn't want to see them. And, with how guilty and sad he looked, they supposed that was probably the very reason why he had delayed the meeting. And when he eventually showed up, everyone gathered in the boys' room, Dmitri wincing at the gun-shot curtains and offering an apology.
"Even though this isn't your home, I still feel really bad about damaging the curtains-"
"It wasn't your fault." Wheeler assured, "We'll just have to pay a little more when we leave to cover that. But..." he gave a sign and cast his eyes down, trying not to look at the others, "I know you're all probably mad at me, and I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell you. I wasn't because I had no choice, but because if I did... Bad things tend to happen when I tell people what I really am."
"And you never trusted us enough to tell us?" Gi questioned, feeling a little betrayed, as did the other Planeteers, "It's been over 5 years since we met, Wheeler, and that's not enough time for you to think you can trust us enough to tell us this?"
"You saw what happened today."
"Do you really think we would have tried to hunt you down after learning that you were a vampire?" Kwame questioned, shocked that Wheeler would ever think such a thing.
"In this day and age, even with you guys as friends? You never know. I'd trust you guys with my life, except with this, because I don't know what you think of the supernatural. And if you hate me because of what I am, that's fine." Wheeler gave a sad smile, "I'm used to it."
"How...how long have you had this?" Linka asked. The redhead crossed his arms.
"Since I was born, babe." They gave a look to Dmitri, wondering if he was also born as a vampire, but the blond man shook his head.
"I was turned a few months ago." he answered slowly, rubbing a hand on his neck, "Ever since you've arrived, Wheeler's been helping me control myself. Otherwise, rescuing you wouldn't have gone as well as planned, with the blood and all." He gestured to the band-aid on Ma-ti's neck, which had been applied after they returned to the hotel.
"But never think you'll be safe, though." Wheeler warned, "Vampires are as unpredictable as wild animals, we are not to be trusted!" He gave his friends a stern look and they wondered why he was being so self-deprecating.
"If vampires are real, then do they have all the things of legend or do you have other things?" Ma-ti asked.
"Some things are true, some things aren't. For example, we're not immortal, no matter what other people think. We still age, we can still die in conventional ways, and so on."
"He had to give me a few lies about vampires before I could trust him." Dmitri added, "But otherwise, vampires are real things and live just like humans, except with a few differences."
"I don't know everything there is to being a vampire." Wheeler continued, "But I know enough." When no one spoke up for another question, he turned to the other vampire, "The hunter's now in jail after I scared him, so you shouldn't have to worry anymore until the next hunter comes. Think you'll be fine or do you still wanna come with us?"
"I think I'll be fine." Dmitri nodded, "Thank you for your help, though."
"No problem. Just remember what I've told and taught you and you should be fine." Dmitri nodded and before leaving via the door, not wanting to cause any more damage, and left the Planeteers alone. The redhead now felt considerably uncomfortable, just waiting for the deluge of hate and fear, and met no one's eyes. He felt the instinct to threaten others and protect himself, to bare his fangs so that they would leave him alone, but he couldn't do that to his friends, so he had to repress his instincts, like he had a million times before. To the others, Wheeler looked so normal, but when they saw him attack Michael... they hadn't seen Wheeler, they had seen something that gave them a sort-of primal fear, something that scared them down to their bones. They had felt a version of it with Dmitri, but it was Wheeler who truly scared them.
"...Then I guess we can go back to Hope Island, now that this is all over." Kwame spoke, "Is there anything else you would like to tell us?"
"Yeah, a few small things: I want you to not trust me and to tell me what you feel, whether you hate me or not."
"Why?" Wheeler shrugged.
"Because I deserve it."
"Well, we don't hate you. We feel betrayed, but we don't hate you." Gi said, "You're still our friend, Wheeler." The redhead gave a bark of harsh laughter.
"We'll see how much you believe that after we get home, where you're all stuck on the island with an apex predator who knows you almost inside and out." It was both a remark and an intentional way for him to scare them so that they knew not to trust him, he wanted them not to trust him, because sometimes, he couldn't even trust himself around them.
