Chapter 10: Fall of the Triple Entende
Outskirts of Jasper…
Slinger stomped his foot on the ground in frustration as the bridge swirled shut, "Don gone it!" he cursed, "The little runt got away!"
MoE shook his head, looking at the cowboy with a disappointed look, "Well what did ya think was gonna happen ya damn idiot!?" he demanded, tossing a grenade between his hands, "Ya need te learn te stop playin with yar food like that."
"Why you no good little," Slinger glared at the Irish vampire, "Why I oughta!"
"Oughta what?" MoE sneered, getting up in his face. Slinger was laughably taller than MoE, but the short man made up for his lack of height with his thickly corded limbs, "You'll try and shoot me with one of dem peashooters of yours!? Ha!"
Slinger pointed one of his pistols at the vampires face, clicking the safety off, "I'm tempted to try shit head."
The two vampires stared each other down, snarling behind their scarves, when, "Enough!" Sir Ian sliced through the air between them, causing the two to stumble away from each other.
The former knight slid his sword back into its sheathe, glaring at the two, "We have enough problems to deal with without you two idiots fighting."
"MoE, contact MECH," he ordered, then looked to Slinger, "Slinger, scout possible ambush locations. Jackson can't hide from us forever. And when the time comes, we'll make him pay for disrespecting her ladyship."
Both vampires looked at him, before he let out a hiss, "What are you idiots still doing here, go!" and the two vanished, running on top of the roofs to different locations. MoE to find a good signal location, and Slinger to scout the area. This left Sir Ian by himself on the outskirts of town.
A single abandoned house, one identical to the hundreds resting next to Jasper itself. This one though must have been some sort of prototype. It had the look of a house that was never inhabited, never visited. Its grassy lawn was withered and dried up, the paint old and peeling, and the windows dusty and cracked. A wooden picket fence, the paint long since worn away, outlined the lawn.
Sighing, Sir Ian rested against said fence and pulled the scarve down, exposing a pale clean shaven face. The man had a strong jaw and cheekbones, with a slightly crooked nose, an injury from a time long before he became a vampire. It was the face of a warrior, or would be, if it weren't for the blood red eyes and serrated fangs.
He reached into a pocket on the outside of his hoody, and pulled out a pack of cigars. Shaking one of them loose, he took in between his lips and lit it with a lighter, taking in a deep breath before blowing smoke into the cool night air.
"Bloody cheap things." he muttered. He missed the days of a smoking pipe with a dash of tobacco leaves. That was much better than these cigarettes that everyone seemed to smoke nowadays. But that wasn't keeping up with the times, and he was stuck with the cigarettes. Even if he did hate them with a passion.
His hatred of cigarettes was interrupted though, by the sound of a police siren, and a flash of red and blue. An annoyed look passed over his face as he looked to see a police cruiser pull up. He immediately recognized the man who exited the vehicle as one of the few remaining policemen not turned, a new recruit if memory served.
The police officer had a youthful face to him as far as Ian could tell, and closed his door behind him with a solid 'thunk'. He approached the vampire, one hand on his radio, the other on his holster.
"Excuse me sir," he greeted.
"Evening officer," the vampire said offhandedly.
The policeman looked around at the area, "We got a call in reporting gunshots and screaming. You see anything suspicious around here?"
Ian held the stub of his cigarette in his hand, looking at it bored before flicking it away, "No, can't say I have officer." he lied, "It's been quite the peaceful night in all truth."
Frowning, the officer readjusted his hat, "You wouldn't mind if I took a look around, would you?"
"Not my house," Ian shrugged, "Go ahead."
Nodding, he walked up to the house and seemed to give it a once over, looking for any sign of violence. It only lasted a minute or two before the cop sighed, "Nothing here it seems, guess it was a… wait a minute."
Ian looked over his shoulder at the cop, who was crouching on the dried up ground, holding a flashlight pointed at it. The vampire smirked at that, frail humans. Couldn't even see without a torch to light the way.
The cop holstered his flashlight and stood up, briskly walking back to the vampire, "Sir, I'm going to need you to come with me. I have reason to suspect you were involved with the reported shooting."
Ian scoffed at the handcuffs the cop pulled, "I'm not going anywhere with you." he growled.
"Resisting arrest too." the cop said, scowling, "Keep going buddy, you're just adding to the list." and he approached Ian with the cuffs.
There was a black blur, and the sound of flesh and cloth tearing. The young policeman screamed as his hands fell to the ground and blood gushed from the stumps of his arms. Ian hadn't even moved, just casually lit another cigarette before taking a puff.
"Bloody cops." he muttered, holding the deathstick between his index and middle finger, "Always getting involved where they shouldn't."
He sighed and stood up, looking at the disarmed cop, "Well, I needed a snack. You'll have to do."
The cop looked up trembling at the vampire, and only had time to get out a strangled cry before Ian descended on him, jaws spread wide. There was a sound of ripping flesh, and blood sprayed across the ground and police cruiser…
Autobot HQ…
Jack slowly stirred as he heard voices surrounding him. They sounded familiar, like old friends and family. But they sounded… odd, too. Like they weren't quite right. Opening his eyes rather slowly, Jack saw why. His vision was blurry at best, everything being in two's or three's, while the room seemed to spin around him.
His body as a whole felt weird, parts of him cold, parts of him warm, like someone was pressing metal to his skin. He didn't know where he was, but slowly Jack propped himself up on an elbow looking around and blinking a few times.
Gradually the world around him began to come back into focus. The sounds sharpened, and Jack looked to his left, seeing his friends and family standing there. He realized with a shock that he was resting on a metal berth of some kind, and that the cold feeling he was getting was the berth pressed against bullet holes in his clothing.
Looking down, he saw that the left leg on his jean was missing from the thigh down, and his foot was bare. A quick rerun of his memories and he remembered why his clothes were like that. He was attacked by that odd trio of vampires. Emphasis on odd.
With a groan, Jack heaved himself off the berth, stumbling forward and shoving a metal table away, causing tools to clatter against the floor rather loudly. All eyes and optics turned to the struggling boy, who was trying to stand, before they began to rush over.
"Jack!" June was over in an instant, helping her son to his feet, "Honey, sit down, you were hurt pretty bad."
Jack waved her off, feeling his strength return, "I'm fine, I'm fine," he muttered. With a shake of his head, he found his vision became sharp and clear again, and his sense of balance returned.
Once that was clear, he looked up to see the Autobot's, Miko, Raf, and his mother all looking at him concerned. It only took a moment for him to realize why. Miko though, decided to spell it out for everyone anyway.
"So… any reason you came through the bridge getting shot at?" she asked.
He rubbed at a patch of exposed skin on his shoulder where a bullet hit, "I was… attacked, at home," he started, looking at the bots, "By MECH."
Everyone scowled and exchanged looks, except Raf, who looked more confused than anything, "But wait, we saw you take on MECH before," Jack shuddered at the memory of his first and only true blood rage, "How were they able to hurt you like that?"
Jack sighed and sat on the berth, rubbing a hand over his face, "It wasn't MECH that hurt me. I handled them fine." he said casually. The bots and humans exchanged looks. The implication of what he'd just said was not lost on them. He'd killed them, plain and simple. But hearing him that casual about it was a little… unnerving.
"If it wasn't MECH that hurt you," Arcee looked back down at Jack with concerned optics, "Then who was it?"
June put a hand on her sons shoulder "Was it Mariana again?" she asked.
The teen frowned, "No, not entirely. It was three vampires, old ones, that work for Mariana." he looked up at the bots, "And they were using silver weapons. Silver bullets, silver swords. And I'm pretty sure the third one had silver shrapnel in his grenades."
The base members took a moment to digest this new information. Three vampires, all of them armed to the teeth to kill a vampire. They'd seen what had happened to Jack, where he not able to regenerate, then he likely would have died. As it was though, he was simply missing part of his left pant leg.
Optimus looked at his fellow Autobots with a thoughtful expression, before focusing his gaze on Jack, "For the time being, until these vampires have been neutralized, I believe it would be in both Jack and Nurse Darby's best interest to remain at base until then."
Jack nodded with the others, he saw no reason to leave base with those three men out there looking for him, hunting for him. He had been utterly thrashed last time, who was to say a second encounter would be any different.
"Ugh, Optimus," apparently June had other thoughts, as the woman got the Primes attention, "Not that I don't appreciate the offer of protection, but we need clothes if we're going to stay here."
Jack started chuckling and the others looked at him like he was crazy. He smiled at his mom, "Actually, I'm good mom, I've got all the clothes I need right here." he patted his jacket that he wore.
"Ugh dude, no offense," Miko said, eyeing his relatively thrashed outfit, "But your clothes don't look like they'll survive the night."
Without saying a word, Jack just smiled as his clothes were covered in shadow, earning shocked gasps from everyone. The shadows swirled and twisted on his clothes, but when they retracted, all the cuts and holes in his clothing were gone. Sealed tight. Jack readjusted his jacket, resisting the urge to laugh at the shocked expressions on everyone's faces.
"Okay," Bulkhead said, shaking his head, "I'm not the only one who just saw that, right!?"
"Jack… what did you just do?" Arcee asked, her faceplate as shocked as everyone else's.
"New power," Jack explained, "I learned how to control shadow magic. All vampires can do it I think, I just have a natural talent for it I guess."
Ratchet snorted, "Preposterous! Shadows can't be manipulated, they are merely the result of light being blocked by another object."
The young vampire raised a hand, a ball of what looked like fiery shadows floating in the palm of his hand, "Then what does this look like Ratchet? You can't touch it, you can't feel it, but you can see through it." he shut his hand and the ball vanished in a flash of shadow.
The medic looked at Jack for a moment before marching off to his terminal, muttering angrily to himself all the while. Soon the others followed suit, separating back into their standard position, except June and Arcee, who stayed with Jack.
"Are you sure you're okay Jack?" his mother asked, repeatedly looking him over and messing with his clothes checking for hidden injuries.
"Gah! Mom, I'm fine!" he protested, pushing her hands away, "I'm fine, it was just a few injuries, nothing I couldn't handle."
"Just a few injuries?" Arcee deadpanned, kneeling down, "Jack, you're leg was shot off and according to June your shoulder blade shattered. That's not a few minor injuries."
Jack shrugged, rolling his shoulders, "You've seen me take worse. It only hurt so much because the rounds were silver is all. I'll be fine, I promise." he smiled, his teeth not serrated or fanged at the moment.
The two females seemed somewhat relieved at Jacks confidence and let up on him for a moment. Taking advantage of his freedom, Jack took the elevator to the top of the base. He needed to be alone for a few minutes.
Once the doors chimed open, the teen walked across the barren top of the Autobot Base and came to a stop at the edge, feeling the wind tug hungrily at his clothes. But he paid that no mind, as his mind was lost in thought. Lost in thought over the three vampires that attacked him and the words they had said.
More specifically, their backgrounds and how they were turned. Each one Mariana had turned when they were on the brink of death, giving them a new life, a new chance. Just ordinary men who would have died without her interference. A small part of Jack thought that if what they said was true, then Mariana wasn't that bad. Maybe she was just misunderstood, given what she was.
Then Jack remembered his friends in the club, the ones turned against their will. Tim had been damn near tortured before Mariana finally turned him. And the others, the others had been changed against their will too. Hell, Mariana had beaten Jack and torn his arm off.
Growling to himself, Jack looked at his hands, his cold marble white hands. The color of life in them was gone, replaced with snow white skin, dead skin. All because of her. She'd toyed with him, messed with him, and then turned him into a monster. A monster that felt no remorse what he'd done to those men.
His thoughts traveled back to the MECH agents he'd slaughtered at his house. It had been so easy, like breaking twigs. And the scariest part was, a part of him enjoyed it. Not just as a job, but as a pleasure. Killing those men, feeling their skin break beneath his blows, their ribs crack, and then drinking them dry… apart of him wanted more, to kill more, to feed more!
There was a crack as Jack slammed his hands onto is head and fell to his knees, "GAH!" he screamed, punching the ground. The earth cracked and his hand was reduced to a pile of shattered bones and flesh.
He didn't care though, "What the hell is wrong with me!?" he demanded, "I'm just as sick as Mariana!"
Jack rested his head on the ground, feeling tears sting his eyes. The guilt, the horror at what he'd done, it all came crashing down seemingly out of nowhere. But for Jack, he knew it hadn't simply come out of nowhere. He had felt it since killing those men. It had only come out now because he was alone and no longer in danger.
"Damn it." he cursed, "I'm just another fucking monster." his regenerated fist hit the ground and he fell to his side.
"Damn it…"
Jasper Nevada…
"So, Silas." Mariana said, standing next to the terrorist in the broad moonlight, "What's your big plan this time since the last one failed so spectacularly?"
Silas spared her a single glare before watching his men resumed their work in the streets. They were prying up bits of asphalt and placing cylindrical steel objects under them. The two stood on top of a large building that overlooked the construction site.
The man regarded Mariana with a hint of disdain and fear. Rightfully so, all things considered, "Thanks to your agents within the town infrastructure, we were able to evacuate the general area around Jackson's former place of work. The K.O Burger. With the area clear, your… Master of Explosives."
"He chose the title, not me." the vampire queen quickly explained.
"Was able to apply a liberal amount of explosives within the building. Any civilians who are nearby will believe it is simply demolition. While young Jack, will be left as nothing but pieces."
Mariana giggled at that, "A clever plan Si," she ignored the glare he gave her, "But how do you plan on luring Jack to the K.O Burger? You know as well as I that he hasn't been there in over a month. I doubt he'll visit for the heck of it."
"That is one part of the plan we are still working out." Silas admitted, "So far, we've worked out one option that might work. Capturing June Darby and holding her hostage."
"Didn't you already do that?" Mariana asked, frowning.
"Well…yes," Silas admitted, watching his men work again.
The woman shook her head, "Oh Silas, you need to be a little more creative. How long till your men are done?"
Silas relayed the question to his men via radio, "They just finished."
"Good," Mariana looked to the distance and whistled, a low key whistle that echoed through the city and across the buildings. Silas looked at the woman like she was nuts(Which she was) before there was a thud on the roof.
"You called master?" another feminine voice purred. Silas whirled around to see a young girl, about sixteen or seventeen with fiery red hair standing at the edge of the building. And like Mariana, she had snow white skin and blood red eyes. Immediately, the man backed away from her out of instinct. The girl ignored him though, focusing solely on Mariana.
"Why yes Sierra, I did." Mariana chuckled as her servant approached, "Jack has begun a threat to my operations in Jasper. These nice men are going to help me take care of him."
Sierra looked at her master shocked, "B-but I thought I was in charge of convincing him to accept your ways and to join us?" she cried, feeling a bit betrayed her master would simply start another plan without her knowing.
"Oh calm yourself Sierra," Mariana ordered. She had no time to deal with her fledglings self esteem issues, "You still play a vital role. You get to lure him here, or rather, lure him to the K.O Burger." she handed Sierra a phone, which the girl took.
"And if this plan fails?" she asked, dialing Jacks number.
Mariana grinned, "Then we get to fall back to the old plan for a time. But you will have to move fast. Otherwise, I will take matters into my own hands. Understand?"
The girl nodded and pressed enter, bringing the phone to her ear, and hearing the dial tone. Mariana waited in eager anticipation…
Atop Autobot HQ…
Jack sat overlooking the wide open landscape of Jasper, head resting on a knee, the other dangling off the side of the Base towards the ground that felt miles below. Jack didn't really care though, his mind was empty as he watched the night sky pass by, the moon rising high into the air. A part of him wanted to run, to just get away from everything. But another part just didn't want to move. At all. He just wanted to stay in one place for the moment and brood.
And he would have done just that. Until his phone began to ring, practically making him jump out of his skin. After he settled himself, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.
"Hello?"
There was a sound of a phone moving fast, like the user couldn't respond immediately, followed by, "Jack!?"
The vampire stood to his feet in an instant, his heart in his throat, "Sierra?"
"Oh thank god!" the girl sighed heavily, sounding out of breath.
"Sierra. what's wrong?" he asked. Something was up, she sounded like desperate, and like she was out of breath.
"It's…it's Vince Jack! I don't know where he came from, but he came out of nowhere! Attacked me and chased me into the K.O Burger. Jack please, help!" she begged, sounding on the edge of tears.
"O-Okay, Sierra, I'm on my way. Did you contact the others?" he asked, his heart rate skyrocketing.
She let out a frightened cry as there was a sound of crashing, "I-I tried, but they won't pick up! Oh God he's breaking through, Jack, please hurry!" there was another crash and the girl let out a scream before the line went dead.
"S-Sierra!?" Jack looked at his phone to see the line was cut, "Damn it!" he cursed, stomping his foot down. From the sound of it, he had no time to lose. If he told the bots what was up, they probably wouldn't let him go. They'd keep him there or demand an explanation before going themselves. And by then, it would be too late.
Jack looked out over the long stretch of highway, and more specifically the faded lights of Jasper. If he put his all into it, he could be there in a few minutes tops. Explaining it to the bots could take any length of time.
Sighing to himself, Jack made a judgment call, and leaped off the edge of the building, plummeting to the ground at a frightening pace. At the last moment, he used his shadows to create a large set of unmoving wings, which instantly caught air.
He dropped a few more feet before bouncing up and flying towards the city. He hadn't even known he could do that, he'd just done it on instinct. And it was much faster than walking, the ground speeding by underneath him.
'Hold on Sierra.' he thought frantically, 'I'm coming!'
K.O. Burger…
Sierra smirked and handed the phone to her master, "He bought it hook, line, and sinker." she reported.
Mariana grinned and tucked the phone away, "Excellent work Sierra, and a good use of the finishing construction too. Now then."
She looked to Silas, "Get your men into hiding, I'll move mine into position. Jack will be here any second."
Deciding that arguing with the woman would be futile, Silas just nodded and ordered his men to finish what they were doing and to take cover in the shops and building surrounding the K.O Burger. In a matter of seconds, the streets were abandoned.
The trap was set, all that was needed, was the mouse.
Said mouse arrived roughly two minutes later, landing in the street and rolling forward before popping up and looking at the K.O Burger. Jack clenched his fist at the sight of the vial establishment, before making his way to it.
He noted the damaged asphalt around the building, more than likely from Vince, and approached the front door. There seemed to be no sign of a struggle, but Jack passed it off as just luck on the structures part. He gripped the handle and slowly opened the door…
A moment later, he felt a pressure slam into him followed by an intense sting all over his body, before he was sent flying through the air, crashing into the asphalt. His shoulder hit the ground with an audible crack, and Jack yelled in pain before skidding to a stop. The entire world seemed out of balance for a moment before his regenerative abilities knit his eardrums back together.
Pain engulfed his entire body and Jack was vaguely aware that his upper body was covered in burns, his shirt and jacket torn away. The teen struggled to get up, his right arm completely limp. Jack looked at it and figured it was probably dislocated. His mother would throw a fit when she found out.
Though she never would, as several shadowy tendrils began flowing out of the numerous burns covering his body and gripped his arm, wrenching it into place. He screamed in pain as the joint audibly cracked, before the pain faded quickly. Jack got to his feet, his legs shaking and looked at the K.O Burger.
Smoke poured from the windows, and glass was scattered everywhere(he was pretty sure he felt a shard jutting from his midsection) across the parking lot. Someone had booby trapped the K.O Burger and sent a fake call from Sierra just to try and off him!
Jack had a pretty good idea when he heard three thuds landing behind him. Holding his right arm to his chest, which was rapidly healing, Jack turned towards the sounds. And as he suspected, the three vampires stood there. This time though, they wore black leather jackets over their hooded sweaters for some reason, and a pair of black gloves.
MoE laughed at Jack, who straightened his back, feeling several vertebrate pop back into place, "Oi, looks like da lad's a wittle concerned for dat pretty liddle dame of is!" he yelled, looking at his comrades.
"Where is she?" Jack demanded, his wounds nearly healed by this point. His clothes knit themselves back together and Jack felt several pieces of glass eject themselves from his body, clattering onto the floor.
"Where's who partner?" Slinger asked, scratching his head with the slide of his pistol, "The girl? Shoot, the hell should we know? We just had MoE over here imitate her voice."
Jack looked at MoE, who clasped his hands together and spoke in perfect imitation of Sierra's voice, "Oh help my Jack, please. Vince is coming after me, I can't possibly take him on alone." He and Slinger snickered while Jack scowled angrily. He'd been had, and now he would pay the price.
"Enough talk you bumbling nitwits." Sir Ian growled, unsheathing his silver sword, "We have a mission to complete, and I for one intend to complete it."
"Spoil sport." Slinger pouted, drawing his second pistol and pointing it at Jack. MoE popped a grenade off his bandolier, tossing it casually in his hand.
Jack just glared at the three, his body trembling with rage. These men had attacked him, they had used someone he cared for (though their relationship he was still unsure of) to lure him in for a trap, and now they planned on killing him. His hands clenched tightly, blood starting to drip from his hands. Sir Ian stopped in front of him and raised his sword arm to the side.
No, not this time. Never again.
Snarling, Jack lunged forward, surprising Sir Ian for a brief moment. He decked the former knight in the face, knocking him back and shooting towards the other two. Slinger opened fire, the crack of his pistols echoing through the night, but it was useless. Jack wasn't running anymore, he was fighting back. He summoned a shadowy shield, making the rounds spark off it before knocking Slinger away with it.
The cowboy rolled across the ground while Jack scooped a shard of glass about two feet long off the ground and charged MoE. Rather than try to dodge him, the large Irishman planted his feet on the ground and only let out a grunt when Jack stabbed him through the chest with the glass, before flipping over his head and landing behind him, panting.
The thickly muscled figure let out a tremor before he began to laugh, turning around to face Jack, while placing a hand on the glass shard. Jack watched in shock as he ripped the shard out of his chest, tearing his skin and shirt apart, before the wound sealed itself closed.
"Ha! Is dat de best ya got lad?" he demanded, shattering the glass in his hand, "I'm a regenerator dumbass, a little stab like that ain't gonna slow me down."
A shadowy limb wrapped around Jacks neck and threw him to the ground, scraping some of the skin on his face off. He crashed into a lamp post along the street, feeling a few more bones crunching before he rolled onto the concrete.
"And Sir Ian here, well partner," Slinger said, hopping back up and cracking his neck, "He's a regular shadow manipulator."
Jack looked up as his bones snapped back together to see several shadowy limbs flaring behind the vampire, each one holding a blade as dark as the night sky. Jack struggled to his feet, feeling exhausted from what had happened. These three, even with his powers, they were too much, too much for him to handle.
Slinger smirked and leveled his pistol at Jack, "No hard feelin's right kid? It's just business after all."
The retort of his pistol jerked Jack back, followed by another shot, and another. Each one caused the teen to stumble back, his entire chest numb at this point. Little did he know that the men were slowly shooting him back to the minefield setup beneath the asphalt by MECH's forces. Finally, he stepped on one.
There was a click, and Jack vanished in a ball of fire and smoke, the explosion rippling down the street and the shockwave buffeting the three vampires.
"Wooee!" Slinger whooped, "Now that's what I call a bonfire!"
Ian tightened his grip on his sword, not as enthusiastic as his comrade, "Shut up you idiot. He's not dead."
Slinger froze mid celebration, "Pardon?"
"Ya heard him Yank." MoE said, walking up next to him, "Lad's not dead, not yet anyway. I dunno how, but somehow he survived that. Ya can feel it if ya were reborn with somethin besides strength and speed."
"And this child…this vampire," Ian corrected, "Is far more powerful than he is aware."
His eyes widened, "Ready yourselves!"
As he said the words, a black streak shot into the air from the fiery pit. No features could be made out on it except it was humanoid and had two glowing red orbs in the center of its face. Ian readied his sword along with his shadow limbs, right as Jack rocketed down at him, shadows peeling off him like flames.
Using his shadow limbs, he caught the attack from Jack, a low boom echoing from the connection, before the two vampires were launched away from each other. Ian used his extra limbs to slow himself, while tendrils of shadow shot out from Jack, digging into the concrete and holding him in place.
Gradually, the shadows around his face peeled away, revealing the teen in a massive snarl, saliva dripping from his gaping maw. Slinger gulped and took a step back.
"The hell's up with this kid?" he asked, holding his pistols on the shadowy being.
"He's using his powers in sync." Ian explained, "He has all three of our gifts, but in the form we have face previously, he could only use one at a time. Here, all three are working in sync, his strength, his regenerative abilities, and his shadow magic. This makes him more powerful than any one of us, maybe all three of us." Ian growled, his swords scraping together.
"Then how the hell do we take him out!?" Slinger demanded.
MoE chuckled, "We don't. Don't ya get it Slinger? This is all a part of Mariana's plan. Look at the lad, he's almost lost it. The more Mariana pushes him like dis, de less stable he'll be. It'll make him easier to manipulate and ultimately turn to her cause."
"So we're just bait!?" Slinger screamed.
"No." Jack rasped, stepping forward, "You're dead."
And he charged the three, concrete slabs shattering under his rapid footfalls. Ian crossed his swords in anticipation, "Stand your ground men!" he ordered, right as Jack slammed into them.
His own tendrils wrestled with Ian's, the two powers fighting back and forth. While that happened, Ian stabbed his sword into Jack chest and sliced upwards, cleaving the teen's upper body in two. It lasted about three seconds before his shadows pulled him together and the wound healed.
Snarling, Jack used his actual hands to grip Ian's, the two vampires struggling against each other before there was a loud crack. Ian cried out in pain as two slivers of bone burst from his skin, causing his strength in his shadow magic to falter. Jacks tendrils tore into his own, ripping them apart before diving into his skin.
The other two vampires watched in horror as Sir Ian, a vampire nearly a millennia old, was slowly infiltrated by the shadows, the tendrils pushing up skin while lifting him into the air. The vampire tried to scream in pain to no avail as the tendrils occupied every square inch of his body, burning his flesh.
And with a twitch of his tendrils, the vampire exploded into a fountain of gore, what remained of him splattering the pavement and his comrades. Slinger looked at himself in horror, before meeting Jacks gaze.
The teenage vampires shadowy form set his gaze on the cowboy, and bared his teeth in a terrifying snarl, the edges of his mouth spreading unnaturally wide. It was at this point that Slingers true nature was revealed.
"Oh fuck this!" he screamed, and ran off.
"Ya bloody coward!" MoE yelled after him, "Come back and die like a vampire ya prick!"
"Oh don't worry," MoE whirled to see Jack standing in front of him, "His time is coming, but right now, it's your turn."
Before the stocky vampire could react, Jacks shadows ripped the pins from his grenades, and the vampire leapt away from the Irishman, who struggled to get his bandolier off.
"Oh you bloody son of a-" a massive boom shook the area around him, and the regenerator vanished in a ball of fire and brimstone.
Jack sneered at the smoky remains, "Regenerate from that."
Slinger sprinted as fast as his legs could take him over the ruined asphalt were he'd believed Jack was supposed to die. Now the kid went fucking nuts and was killing them! He had to get away, get as far as possible. Screw Mariana, he wanted to live, not get torn apart by a bunch of shadows.
"Going somewhere?" Slinger barely had time to turn around before Jack grabbed him by the throat and crashed him into the ground, cracking the asphalt and concrete. The cowboy started choking and grabbed at his arm frantically. Jack pulled him from the crater, holding him high in the air, his blood red eyes appearing to stare into his soul.
"Please… don't…kill me!" the cowboy begged, still grabbing at his arm.
Jack's eyes narrowed, "You're not a man, not a dog, not even a monster. You're just a scared little boy."
Without another word, Jack dragged him over to a nearby building. With a flick of his wrist, he slammed him so hard into the building, that he stuck to the building, dazed. His arms were raised up so it looked as though he were crucified on the building.
"And I wonder," Jack said, his shadows rising in anticipation, "What are little boys made of?"
Slinger looked at him terrified, "What are you-"
The tendrils lashed out and dug into his torso, tearing his skin flesh and muscle apart, causing the man to scream. All the while Jack just grinned like a madman.
"Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails," there was a sound of something wet spilling out of Slinger, onto the floor, "That is what little boys are made of."
From the upper rooftops, hidden away, Mariana grinned madly, "And so the descent begins," she murmured.
Sierra looked at her confused, "Master?"
"Jack doesn't know it yet, but without my guidance, his sanity will slowly deteriorate. It's a side effect of his powers," the vampire queen explained, "Dracula suffered a similar problem before he killed his master and regained it." she giggled, "But Jack, oh he won't kill me. By the time he is strong enough, his sanity will be gone, and he'll finally join me."
She rubbed her hands together, "All the pieces are falling into place."
As if waking from a dream, the shadows around Jack dissipated, and the boy was left in a blood stained battlefield, looking at the ruined corpse of Stinger. His whole body felt numb at the sight of it, and Jack took a step back before doing something he wanted to do for a long time.
He vomited onto the ground, falling to his knees as he heaved whatever contents made up his stomach. Each heave brought tears to his eyes until he had nothing left. And then the tears came, streaking down his face.
"Oh god, what have I done," he cried, burying his face in his hands, "What have I done!?"
Vaguely he heard cars pull up followed by voices calling to him and felt his mother run to his side embracing him and saying something to him. But all he did was cry, cry and cry into her shoulder. What he had done… they would never know, they hadn't been there. But it was monstrous, disgusting. And the worst part, despite all his disgust?
He liked it.
A/N: So... yeah. Let me know what you thought of the chapter in the reviews, and PM me with questions and ideas. Bye!