A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 9: Getting Even
"Olmstead!" Jared shouted as he ran through the darkened fortress and toward the lord's bedroom. He lifted a hand and was about to pound on the door but froze when he heard a scream on the other side of it, followed by a loud smack of skin on skin and a whimper before he pounded on the door. "Get your ass out here! Some of the prisoners have been let loose!"
The door swung open revealing Olmstead pulling on a black shirt, his pants already on, but there was a faint sound of sobbing from inside the room.
"My men are rounding them up, I assume," he questioned as he pushed past Jared to march down the hall, Jared marching right behind him.
"They are, but one of the men came to me to tell me someone's waiting for you in the arena," Jared replied, making Olmstead frown as he kept walking.
"Waiting?" the lord questioned. "Who?"
"The man that came to me half dead and unable to breathe told me it was man in all black, a shaved head and goggles over his eyes," Jared replied in a knowing tone, making Olmstead stop dead in his tracks, his fists clenched at his sides.
"Riddick," he growled through a smirk before spotting one of his men running past them. He grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him an inch from his burning glare. "Go to the weapon room and bring me my sword. The one in the golden sheath. Bring it to the arena."
Olmstead shoved the man away and marched on with Jared behind him and the man ran off to fulfill his order. He made his way to the lower levels, Jared right behind him. They passed through the commotion going on around with prisoners being recaptured and dragged back to the cells or killed. He didn't care if they were killed. There were more where they came from. His only concern now was Riddick. He licked his lips through his smirk, almost unable to contain his glee at the thought of bringing down the famous Richard B. Riddick.
"That little bastard is gone, too," Jared growled as he still followed Olmstead. "I wanted a go at that kid. And I need my payment, my lord."
"That little Fish has done more for us than you know," Olmstead smirked, ignoring Jared's mockery of his title. "He's lured out the real prey. He's brought us Riddick. Help me take him down, and not only will you get to take him in for the bounty on his head, but I will pay you double what I promised you."
Jared stopped dead at the top of the stairs leading to the lower levels as Olmstead continued on down the steps. The merc stared at his back with wide eyes before a greedy grin spread over his lips.
"Just tell me what to do," Jared conceded, following Olmstead down the stairs.
"From my understanding of Riddick, he can be unpredictable, and so we must be as well," Olmstead began, passing the women's cell where they were still locked up. "We'll plan as we go. We may be able to catch him off guard. But I give him the death blow, do you understand? If you betray me, you won't be paid…you will be killed."
"I'd rather be paid than dead," Jared smirked as they made their way down to the next level. "Money is the only thing keeping me from betraying you…but you already know that."
"Your sense of loyalty is touching," Olmstead shot back as they turned a corner and finally stopped at the sight in the dimly lit arena.
Riddick knelt in the center, surrounded by the dead bodies of the guards that had tried to take him in as a prisoner…the hounds feeding on their corpses. Olmstead watched him for a moment before strolling toward the arena, the still broken door laying on the ground, Jared stepping after him, the mercs steps only faltering when Riddick looked up at the pair heading for him. Riddick slowly stood as Olmstead sauntered up and stopped in the doorway of the arena, looking over the dead men that used to work for him.
"So," Olmstead smirked, crossing his arms and leaning on the bars of the arena next to him, his eyes remaining on Riddick who, in turn, kept his gaze on the man that had tortured Faith, and Fisher…and Deirdra. "I see you were able to subdue my beasts. I'm impressed."
Riddick said nothing as he kept his glare beneath his goggles on Olmstead, tightly gripping a shiv in each hand. The sounds of bones crunching and flesh ripping were the only things that filled the silence between the three men as Jared only kept his mouth shut and his gaze on Riddick. Olmstead smirked before glancing around the arena again then whistled loudly and the beasts froze, lifting their heads and looking at him with their shining eyes. A few of the animals grabbed onto what they had deemed their food and turned to head back toward their cells, passing by Riddick without a second glance at him.
"As you can see, they're still my animals," Olmstead smirked, smugly. "I assume you rescued your little Fish. Unfortunately, you were too late for the pretty little girl he got attached to."
Riddick looked him over before finally asking in a low tone, "You came here without a weapon?"
"Oh, it's coming," Olmstead assured him, casually before Riddick's gaze moved to Jared who was standing against the bars, his hand on his gage.
"You gonna make a move, merc?" Riddick snarled and Jared shrugged with a shake of his head.
"The Lord and I have an understanding," Jared replied. "Tell you what, though, I'm gonna be heading after that annoying little brat of yours and taking care of him after this."
"Good luck with that, asshole," Riddick shot back.
"Where's Deirdra?" Olmstead questioned with a smirk, shooting Riddick's attention back to him. The ex-con's fists tighten around his shivs as Olmstead continues, "She was coming with you, wasn't she? I was looking forward to seeing her again. I wonder which of the scars I left her have endured all these years."
Riddick clenched his teeth, trying to keep his anger at bay. He refused to attack him if the bastard was unarmed. He had to at least give him some kind of chance to defend himself.
"Is she still as beautiful as I remember?" Olmstead continued taunting. "I used to love grabbing onto that red hair of hers, and the noises she made when I did."
"My lord!"
Riddick kept his glare on Olmstead who turned to the man he'd sent for his sword. The man froze when he saw Riddick, making Jared roll his eyes and march toward him to grab the sword he was holding from him and hand it to Olmstead. He took his sword as the other man stood still frozen in his spot, but when he looked to Olmstead, the lord waved him closer. The man swallowed hard before shuffling toward Olmstead who pulled the katana-like sword in its glittering golden sheath to his side. Riddick noted the shift Olmstead made in his stance as the man approached, and as he took that last step toward him, Olmstead drew his sword and swept it through the air, aimed right at the man. He froze and shuddered before crumpling to his knees…his head rolling off his shoulders with a permanent expression of shock on the man's face.
"Bastard," Riddick ground out quietly as Olmstead turned with an evil smirk, flicking the blood from his blade with a light flick of his wrist.
"Just a little demonstration," Olmstead smirked, stepping into the arena. "I named it Kuriba: The Cleaver."
The two began to circle each other, slowly, staying along the perimeter of the arena as Jared watched the scene unfold, carefully.
"That boy of yours," Olmstead continued, both still pacing around the arena. "He's nearly as good as you when it comes to combat. You should be proud."
Riddick flipped his shivs in his hands, casually as he paced, replying, "Caught you off guard didn't he?"
Olmstead frowned, but Riddick continued.
"He made you nervous. You should be. I'm not here for him now."
"Oh?" Olmstead smirked, rolling his sword in his hand. "Why are you here then?"
"You're gonna tell me everything you did to Deirdra…and then I'm gonna cut you into pieces and feed you to your dogs."
"Is that so?" Olmstead chuckled with a raised brow of amusement. "Cocky bastard, aren't you?"
"Better believe it, asshole," Riddick shot back before stopping in his tracks the moment Olmstead stopped as well.
Silence descended between them.
Riddick rolled his shoulders and neck.
Olmstead shifted his feet and dug the toe of his boot into the dirt.
A heartbeat later, Olmstead charged at Riddick, quickly closing the gap and raising his sword to attempt cutting his head in half, but Riddick moved to his right, slashing at Olmstead who dodged the attack just as easily before taking another swipe at Riddick. Riddick ducked and swept a foot at Olmstead's ankles, but he dodged that with a backflip, landing easily on his feet as Riddick stood tall again. Olmstead wasted no time in charging Riddick again, and this time, metal clashed against metal as each man expertly parried each blow made by the other.
The fight raged, until Olmstead was able to knock one of Riddick's shivs from his hand and made swipe at his chest, which Riddick dodged…but not face enough. He growled when the tip of Olmstead's blade sliced across his chest as he backpedaled to get away from the attack. Olmstead smirked as Riddick lifted his hand and touched the wound before looking back at his opponent and growling, deep in his throat. The sound reverberated around the arena as Riddick lifted his hands to set his goggles on his forehead, his silver eyes glaring Olmstead down.
"Ready to look me in the eye?" Olmstead smirked, rolling his sword in his hand and adjusting his stance.
"I'm ready to watch you die with my own eyes," Riddick shot back before something else caught his attention, making him groan as his shoulders slumped and he blurted, "Shit."
Olmstead frowned before demanding, "Something distracting you? You should keep focus on the battle at hand. Especially when you're losing!"
Olmstead charged toward Riddick who stood his ground and dodged each of Olmstead's attacks. Jared watched them closely as the fight continued, and soon realized that they were an equal match for each other, which made him glad that he was letting Olmstead fight Riddick for him. He certainly would've been ghosted easily by Riddick. Olmstead took another swipe at Riddick's arm, which he dodged to bring his shiv down toward Olmstead's leg. However, Olmstead used his boot to slam Riddick's wrist into the sand, pinning it under his boot, and Olmstead aimed his sword at Riddick's throat.
"You were saying something about seeing me die?" Olmstead smirked, in triumph before he lifted his blade to make the killing blow. He brought the blade down with both hands…but it was stopped inches from Riddick's face by another blade. Olmstead frowned and followed the blade with his gaze to see who was on the other end of it, and who he found made him smile, widely as he purred, "Deirdra. How nice of you to join us."
Deirdra glared at him before shoving his blade up and shoving him back from pinning Riddick's wrist to the floor. She kept her glare on him as Riddick stood and found his other shiv before stepping next to her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he growled near her ear.
"I'm helping," she snapped back.
"I don't need help, I'm taking care of this!" he snapped.
"Oh, yeah, you looked like you were from the ground," she shot back.
"Sorry to break this up, but…" Jared called, trailing off as he pointed his gage at the couple and resumed, "But two against one is a bit unfair, don't you think?"
"Oh, it's alright, Jared," Olmstead smirked, drawing everyone's attention to him again as he kept his eyes on Deirdra. "If Deirdra wants to have a little reunion we shouldn't deprive her of it. You look very good, darling. Still have that fire in you, I see. Once I take care of your boyfriend here, I'll be able to show you a good time again."
Riddick didn't have to look at Deirdra to know she was shaking, and he knew it wasn't out of fear. She was past that now. She was pissed.
"Too bad that little brat couldn't make it," Jared smirked, lowering his gage. "Then it would be a proper family affair."
"You wanna take care of this then?" Riddick questioned her as they kept their glare on Olmstead who was rolling his sword and bracing himself for a charge from either of them.
"Why? You tired?" she shot back, making him smirk back as he caught her meaning. "You bleed like a girl, by the way."
"Yeah, thanks," he shot back.
"Did you miss me that much, Deirdra?" Olmstead continued to taunt, making her grip tighten on her short blade katana-like sword. "You even brought the sword you took when that woman took you away from me. How thoughtful."
"Yeah, and I kept it nice and sharp so I could cut that ugly head from those disgusting shoulders of yours," she snapped back.
"I took care of you, Deirdra," Olmstead growled, his mood suddenly changing from playful to all seriousness. "I paid you so much attention…and you repaid me by taking off with that bitch!"
Jared jumped as Olmstead's shout echoed through the arena, but Riddick and Deirdra remained unmoving, not even flinching. Olmstead straightened and rolled his shoulders, calming himself from his brief outburst before speaking again.
"Well, you're here now. And once I've taken care of Riddick here, you'll be staying here, with me, and I won't be letting you go ever again."
"In your lowly, dirty, disgusting, deepest, darkest dreams you sadistic bastard!" Deirdra spat, knowing that would provoke him.
As she had planned, he charged at her with a loud yell and raised his sword to strike her, but she parried, easily and he stumbled forward a step but quickly regained his footing to take a swipe at her again, but the blow was closer to Riddick, who parried with his shivs. Back and forth, Olmstead fought the two, matching their blows as they struck, and Deirdra was beginning to think they wouldn't be able to take him down, even between the two of them. Just as he parried a blow from Riddick, Deirdra came in close, striking at him, but ended up with an elbow to the face, making her stumble back, but when he turned back to Riddick, ready to defend himself, Riddick found an opening and held a shiv to Olmstead's throat.
"That's my cue," Jared muttered to himself, lifting his gage to fire at Riddick.
"Oh, I don't think so."
Jared froze with a choked gasp as a blade dug into his back…right in the sweet spot. The clattering of his gage falling to the floor, drew Olmstead's gaze to where Jared now dropped to his knees, Riddick still holding him at bay with a shiv to his throat as Deirdra got to her feet, spitting the blood from her mouth where Olmstead's elbow had connected with it. Fisher's hand followed the blade still stuck in Jared's back when he dropped to his knees, a hand on the merc's shoulder to keep him steady before he lifted a foot to shove him onto the ground, face first.
"Damn, that is a gusher," Fisher hissed when he looked to his hand and knife covered in Jared's blood. He knelt down as the other three watched him while Fisher leaned close to Jared's ear so that only he could make out what he said.
"I told you I was gonna kill you, didn't I?" Fisher whispered as Jared choked on the blood coming from his mouth. "That was for putting your slimy hands on Faith. And this next one is for me. Never piss someone off that hates mercs more than anything in the universe. You just get dead."
Fisher grabbed a handful of Jared's hair to lift his chin off the ground, slide his knife under his throat, and slit it in one, swift stroke, letting blood pool into the dirt as Jared choked once more, than fell limp. Fisher left Jared's dead body on the ground outside the arena before sauntering in, covered in blood and glaring at Olmstead as he approached.
"The hell are you waiting for?" Fisher growled, stopping a few feet from the three. "Ghost him."
"Not my call, Kid," Riddick replied.
Olmstead suddenly shifted, avoiding Riddick's shiv to take a swipe at him, which he dodged easily before Olmstead made to attack Fisher. The teen braced himself, stopping Olmstead's strike above his head as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He smirked at Olmstead as their blades remained forced against each other, neither one willing to give in…until Deirdra swept up next to them and swung her blade up to slice Olmstead's hands off just above the wrists.
He let out a long, loud, shout of pain before Fisher shoved him back and onto the ground with a boot to his chest. The three stepped up to him, circling him as he stared at the stumps where his hands used to be. His eyes darted from his stumps to the three surrounding him as he tried to sit up, but Riddick held him down on his back by simply placing his boot on his shoulder.
"Where are you going?" he frowned, mockingly.
"What do we do with him now?" Fisher growled, rage burning in his eyes as he glared at Olmstead.
Riddick looked to Deirdra who was only staring at Olmstead and remaining silent, looking to her for an answer. Olmstead looked to her as well, and she couldn't keep the smirk from her lips at seeing the look in the man's eyes. He'd been defeated and he knew it…and he was terrified. She cocked her head to the side before kneeling down to be somewhat level with him as they all kept their gazes on her.
"What you're feeling now is what I felt," she murmured. "What all of your prisoners felt. Looks like our roles are a bit reversed now, aren't they? Except…I'll probably only take pleasure in your suffering more than anyone else's. I'm no sadist, like you…but maybe I'll indulge, just this once."
She stood tall, still staring at him as he shook, speechless with terror. She then looked to Riddick and Fisher and took a deep breath.
"You two open the cells and let everyone out," she ordered. Riddick nodded and shoved off of Olmstead's shoulder to head out of the arena, waving Fisher after him. Deirdra watched them heading out before calling, "Wait for me at the ship when you're done."
Fisher stopped and looked to her, but Riddick turned to grab his arm and drag him after him. Fisher stumbled behind Riddick a step before following him, glancing back once before catching up with Riddick's pace to speak to him.
"What's she gonna do?" he asked as they marched toward they reached the relocked door of the men's cell. "She must have told you or you wouldn't have just left her like that. What's she doing?"
"Unlock the door," Riddick ordered as they stopped next to the cell. "I'll take out the guards when they show up."
"Why won't you answer me?" Fisher demanded, working on the door with his knife, a trick Riddick had showed him some time ago.
"She doesn't want you to think of her like that, Kid," Riddick finally replied, making Fisher frown as he still worked.
"Like what?" the teen questioned, quickly popping the lock and opening the door to let the men out again, and they hurried out as Fisher looked to Riddick. "I won't see her any different. Just tell me—"
He was cut off when the sound of an agonizing scream echoed down the tunnel…the sound coming from the arena. Any man who had been heading that way froze and turned to run the opposite direction as Fisher and Riddick looked down the hall before Fisher looked to Riddick.
"That was Olmstead," he stated, and Riddick finally looked to Fisher.
"Yeah," Riddick finally replied before turning to lead Fisher down the hall to the women's cells. "She's hacking him up into pieces while he's alive."
Later, Back in the Shuttle...
Faith paced inside the shuttle Fisher had left her in after promising he'd be back. He'd been gone for far too long, and she was becoming impatient. She stopped and touched the knives he'd given her before gathering her courage and making up her mind to march out of the shuttle. Just as she was about to head down the gangplank, she spotted Riddick and Fisher marching toward her and she burst into a grin.
"Fisher!" she called, running out and throwing herself into his arms as Riddick continued marching toward the ship, Fisher pulling Faith close before they pulled out of their embrace to head back to the ship. "I was getting worried. Where's Deirdra?"
Fisher bit his lower lip in thought before glancing over Faith's head at Riddick, making his way up the gangplank, then replied, "She's on her way. She had something…she needed to take care of."
"You left her with that man?!" she gaped.
"She's fine," Riddick called, drawing their attention to him as he stood at the mouth of the ship, hanging onto the frame to lean out and watch them. "Get in here or get left."
"We're not leaving Deirdra, are we?!" Faith frowned in disbelief as Fisher gently took her arm and pulled her with him toward the ship.
"She'll be here, sweetheart, don't worry," he murmured into her ear as they made their way up the gangplank, passing Riddick.
Fisher stopped next to the man, releasing Faith to let her step inside as he watched Riddick's expression then turned to the direction he was staring. His eyes widened when he spotted Deirdra slowly approaching them, her short sword barely clasped in her fingers…and she was covered in blood. Faith hurried back toward Fisher and Riddick only to gasp at the sight of Deirdra before throwing her hands over her mouth and staring huge, blue eyes at the red head. Deirdra stopped at the bottom of the gangplank, staring through them as they only stared back at her, Faith in shock, Fisher in wonder and concern…but Riddick was a stoic as ever.
"Deirdra," Riddick called, and she slowly moved her head to look at him, her brown eyes wide and wild and filled with unshed tears.
"It's…done," she replied in a raw, weak voice, swaying slightly on her feet.
Riddick stepped down the plank toward her, stopping to lean down and take the blade from her before taking her now empty hand into his and turning to pull her into the ship. However, when he took a step forward, he was met with resistance, making him stop and turn a frown toward her, but he didn't let go of her hand as she looked up at him. He realized what would happen before she did and quickly tossed her sword to Fisher before sweeping Deirdra off her feet to carry her into the ship just as her world went black and silent.
A/N: So, I was gonna have the whole scene where she's hacking his limbs off, but I decided there was enough gore in this chapter without that. Use your imaginations. second to last chapter, done...last chapter coming up. reviews?
