Shade: It's time to some action, gentlemen!
Warning: +18. Some gore descriptions.
Chapter XI
Dark Underwater, part II
"Something is moving from the outside! Everyone, be ready!" one of the officers of a full battalion of the Scotland Yard howled, making everyone watchful: In front of them, in one of the drainage pipes that faced the Thames, a black and viscous thread that looked like oil, was coming out and was floating in the water, being bigger and bigger. The few officers raised their makeshift weapons, composed of gas and oil lamps and their statutory bayonets. Several mice members of the R.I.S., riding some of the famous giant crows of the Tower of London, had at hand homemade incendiary bombs, with Bernardo and Bianca being in front of the line with Orville the albatross. Ortensia, Donald and Dawson were close to the rear, prepared with the final weapon in case the situation turned too much against them. In front of everyone, Mina crouched like a tigress about to jump over her prey. Dozens of eyes were stuck in that now huge black spot, which remained abnormally still in the midst of the movement of the river.
Suddenly, the mass began to move by itself, stirring and twisting ("It's.. It's moving as if it had a life of its own!" some of the royal officers exclaimed, beginning the black mass to divide into small balls floating on the dark waters, beginning to change shape, as if limbs like head or arms were formed...
"Attention, first line!" Ortensia suddendly bellowed. In front of her, a whole row of officers moved ahead with tremendous precision. "NOW!" At a signal from her extended arm, the law agents began to throw the house lamps and street lamps towards the agitated mass, breaking the crystals, wrapping the concentration of the Blotling in an incandescent mass, lighting up the faces of the motley army stationed at the river dock, and on the other side, in front of the closed entrance of Traitors' Gate... "Second line, cover the other side!" At that signal, a line of soldiers threw their lamps, covering from the other side of the outlet of the drain, forming a kind of giant "U", surrounding the Blotlings in enveloping movement. In the air was a dreadful smell of ink, gasoline and other nauseating debris burning... Luckily, the infantry lines were safe from getting too intoxicated, thanks to their own handkerchiefs tied on their faces to cover their muzzles and mouths, impregnated with extracts of herbs, given generously by Ortensia Van Helsing.
"I must admit that it was a brilliant plan, and I also say it literally." Dr. Dawson murmured, fascinated and frightened, squinting at the almost blinding brilliance of the flames. Donald, who was on his side, growled in agreement.
"We were lucky that there was a whole battalion that wasn't on duty tonight, as well as some help from the world of the supernatural, not to mention someone who knows all the strategies of a legendary monster hunter." Donald said, watching Orville, Bernand and Bianca fluttering over the burning mass, checking how everything was going, and for a moment it looked well...
Puzzled and stupefied, Mickey, Oswald and Basil backed away from each other until they were almost against the wall of the septic tank, watching without blinking the horrid spectacle they had in front: The Phantom Blot was now a giant form of more than five meters, with its immense head skimming the cavernous roof... He had a shape reminiscent of a ghost, but with black skin and oozing ink from every part of his body. His hands, huge, ended in black claws that, with no doubt, although that being was made of ink, they looked solid and capable of cutting and traversing any flesh without any problem.
"It's an abomination," Basil muttered, his voice almost broken when he saw the monster forming and twisting in front of them. Suddenly the head remained still, until then surprise, a couple of large slits appeared, leaving them perplexed... then a pair of huge yellow eyes bright, like those of a basilisk, towards his three possible prey, outlining a smile sinister "Go back!" he exclaimed just as a giant hand launched towards them, making them run in several directions, but the monster's hand managed to grab Basil's leg, causing him to fall forward, feeling his chin hit painfully the ground . "No, no, LET ME GO!" he screamed as he was dragged back violently, trying to resist, trying to bury his nails in the dirt floor in a desperate effort to get away from the tremendous force that huge hand applied to his small body. Oswald tried frantically to open the bag he was carrying to get what was inside and so help him, but the Phantom Blot, seeing him, threw him a punch with his free hand, making Oswald fly towards the concrete wall, crashing hard against it. The monster stepped back, squeezing the detective mouse tightly in his hand, as if he was a water balloon and he wanted to blow it up. The Count Dragul plunged against him and showed his teeth, but the monster caused a wave of residual water to sink his free hand, falling on the vampire, who immediately began to scream in pain, retreating: Throughout his black fur several red and painful blisters began to appear suddenly. Ratigan gave a cheerful laugh, apparently enchanted by this show.
"Not even with the combined forces of the so-called 'most feared vampire in half a millennium' and the so-called 'greatest monster hunter of all time' even could tickle my friend! You'd better accept that it was a bad idea to find me, my dear Basil!" Ratigan said with a broad smile." Now, if you'll excuse me, my friend wants to taste a disemboweled detective before going out to play... Don't you think...?"
The Phantom Blot looked at him and then looked at the almost faint Basil still clutching his fist as if he wanted to see everything inside of the mouse's body by burst him... Then he made a terrifying smile and began to retreat and submerge, as if he wanted to disappear under the waters with the vanished English mouse with him...
But of surprise, Mickey Dragul fluttered with his wings still full of sores, rising to the face of the Phantom Blot, but he deviated at the last moment, showing an extremely bruised Oswald Van Helsing to jump from his back where he was mounted, wielding something elongated in his hand, which buried with all his strength in one of the eyes of the monster, making him scream in surprise, releasing Basil who fell into the septic tank, sinking into the black water. Seeing that the giant hands of the beast were going in the direction of his face to withdraw that thing from the eye or maybe crush the rabbit like a fly (without a doubt the last thing), Oswald let himself fall, sinking into the water, noticing the body of the Detective losing himself in the depth, so he swam down, even with his limbs hurt, extending his hand as much as he could to that elongated body that was beginning to be confused with the dark algae in the bottom...
On the surface, the Phantom Blot had finally managed to tear out that annoying thing that damned hunter had buried in his eye. When he saw it in his hands, he saw that it was a metal rod with something on its end... It was an iron flask, which was lit at one end. Suddenly it exploded in his hand, wrapping the hand and part of Phantom Blot's face in flames, causing him to recoil, howling in pain.
"NO!" Ratigan shouted and ran towards one of the bombs that would make the water come out under pressure, no doubt with the idea of extinguishing the flames of his ally... but with a cry of rage and satiety, Mickey made a movement and a black spear came out of his hand, burying itself in Ratigan's hand, leaving him paralyzed a few inches from the manual valve... Seconds later, Mickey's free hand went through the rat's stomach, even with his fingers protruding from Ratigan's bloody back, who remained static for a few milliseconds, with wide eyes and looking at nothing, then let out of his mouth a horrible vomited blood and bile, then he plummeted on the floor, apparently inert. Mickey Dragul withdrew his hand from Ratigan, watching his claws soaked with blood and viscera, wincing in disgust.
"You aren't worthy to savor your filthy blood," he said, wiping his hand against his pants. Then he turned and saw that the Phantom Blot, with a huge hole in his face and his hand dripping with scorched ink letting himself sink into the septic tank's water, seeing that at the same time Oswald was struggling to get out of the water, carrying the fainted detective on his back. Mickey ran towards them, reaching the edge and grabbing the extended arm of his rival and at the same time, dear friend: "Are you always such a beast with your methods of attack, Ozzie?" he asked with a faint smile when he saw the hunter's bruised and full of cuts face.
"Well, everyone says that my openings start with a 'boom', you know," Oswald replied, smiling tiredly, observing the reddened blisters of the vampire.
Suddenly a giant hand that more resembled a black geyser was raised of surprise, just when the albatross and its two occupants were on them, amidst the general stupefaction and horror of the army on land, seeing that the bird had to made a sudden somersault in the air to avoid the burning drops of ink, almost making the two mice fly off, so Bernand grabbed Bianca with one hand and with the other he grabbed directly to Orville's plumage. The giant incandescent hand went back down into the water, where an incandescent mass was stirring and flailing violently, expanding and contracting... Surprisingly, it rose again like a wall of fire on them, causing those on the ground to retreat avoid the burning rain, with so much bad luck that some drops fell on them, making them scream in pain. The dough was beginning to rise on the edge of the river's quay, leaving a trail of calcined stone covered with burned ink, enveloping the air in a terrible smell that made the eyes water.
"Retreat! Retreat!" The soldiers began to shout, throwing their bayonets and starting to get away from there. The mice of R.I.S. they tried to contain the advance of the Blotling by flying over the incandescent mass and throwing their homemade incendiary bombs, which exploded on the contact, but without making him retreat, but ejected jets of burning ink on the crows, knocking some to the ground.
"This is too dangerous, let's get out of here!" Dawson yelled to Ortensia and Donald, watching in horror that now the burning mass began to mutate once more, now separating into balls of ink in flames like cell division, each one with its huge legs and mouths...
"They're going to burn down the entire city if we don't act now!" Ortensia said, then noticed that between the chaos of the people running around and starting to sound the sirens and warning horns to warn about the imminent danger, Mina Dragul was stuck in place, without moving. Ortensia shouted again: "Mina! Mina, we have to get out of here!"
But Mina Dragul didn't move. Not a muscle. Only her voice was heard, but it wasn't her beautiful modulated voice, but an almost animalistic growl: "Go away."
The female black cat stayed where she was, indecisive. The duck and the mouse were a few meters away, also watching her, not knowing whether to insist or to run away, although not so much for the army of Blotlings in flames. Ortensia whispered: "But Mina..."
"GO AWAY!" Mina roared, turning her head back, showing her red eyes like infernal embers and her fangs exposed. "GO AWAY, EVERYONE!"
Several nearby soldiers raised their bayonets in the direction of the female vampire, but then they were paralyzed by the gesture made by Ortensia Van Helsing, then she added in an authoritative tone despite the obvious tremor in her voice at the time: "The Countess has spoken, retreat now!" The soldiers and policemen hesitated a moment, but lowered their bayonets and retreated. The female black cat looked at the dangerous female vampire mouse without blinking. "We trust you, Countess Dragul." The ferocity of the vampire countess's face didn't diminish a bit, but Mrs. Van Helsing could swear that she had seen Mina's infernal eyes soften a little. The cat started to run, followed by a terrified Donald and Dawson.
Mina Dragul raised her arms, in a parody of Moses separating the waters. Entrenched in the stone wall that separates the pier from the streets, Ortensia, Donald, Dawson, the military and the mice of R.I.S. watched in amazement as the Blotlings began to laugh at the comical gesture of that little female mouse... Until a cloud of bats shot out from her outstretched hands, but forming a mass as dense as the Blotlings and crashing against them, making them retreated little by little, then Mina raised her hands upwards, doing the black mass that she had in her hands the same movement, looking like the giant hands, catching the Blotling and throwing it into the river. Then the vampire rose with the mass of bats around her, horrifying Dawson and Donald, not to mention the soldiers and mice that were still there, as well as the villagers, from their homes or the trees: That was an angel or a demon? Then, the Blotlings started to move to the opposite direction to the river ("It's going to enter in the city!"), but Mina, from the air,created again mass of bats from her hands, in this ocassion making a big wave in the water that caught the burning Blotling that was trying to escape, pushing them... Suddenly, Ortensia snatched the object from the Hands as Donald and ran out, despite the screams of the duck and the mouse, as well like the military men. "Mina, use this, I'm going to throw it at you...!"
But the countess didn't let her finish speaking: She lowered her hands, stopped forming her giant black hands and launched herself at her, grabbing her and rising again with her. The people on the dock and the surrounding houses gasped. Hundreds of eyes watched as Mina Dragul grabbed Ortensia Van Helsing by the arms, making her hang in the air, while the latter carried a large, round object in her hands. The wave that the female vampire had provoked was getting undone, causing the Blotlings to try again to move towards the edge to try again the offensive, but they turned to the time when hearing the cries of Mina:
"EAT THIS, MONSTERS!"
And Ortensia threw the object over them, seeing that it was a huge glass bottle that crashed on the mass of ink, beginning to glow in a disturbing way and finally bursting into a relatively large fireball that rose in the air and in a an expansive wave that made almost fall those who were on the ground. Amid the chaos that had resumed due to the explosion, Donald and Dawson scanned the sky with anguish, trying to find some sign of the two women... Only seeing dust and smoke in the air, until a pair of wings as of pterodactyl finally emerged behind the cloud, giving a smile of relief to several of those present, some even gave some shouts of joy.
"You're definitely as impulsive and reckless as Oswald, you and him are really two of a kind!" Donald snapped at Ortensia as the cat and vampire mouse touched the ground and he, as well as Basil's assistant and several uniformed men, approached on them. Ortensia shrugged, giving him a crooked smile.
"It's the best compliment I've been given since Lord Mortimer's hideous letter, thanks" she replied with soft sarcasm. Then she noticed a hand (or rather a claw) perched on her shoulder. The female cat stood still and then, slowly, she turned around: Mina Dragul was looking at her, her eyes bright and like embers. Donald and Dawson recoiled reflexively... Ortensia Van Helsing narrowed her eyes: "I would like to warn you, madame countess, that I ate pork stew with garlic sauce and stuffed with garlic soaked for six months in preserved holy water... If you bite me, perhaps you will end indisposed by a tremendous indigestion... I don't think that's good for the little cake that you have in the oven, right?" she said softly. Donald and Dawson stared at her in amazement and not understanding a word of what she said... Mina Dragul finally closed her eyes and laughed softly.
"Thanks for the warning, you're very considerate with me," the countess Dragul replied with the same gentle and musical tone as always. At that tone, the duck and the mouse came slowly closer. Then she opened her eyes, looking at the three of them: Her eyes were still in a disturbing and dangerous bright dark red, but her smile was sweet and radiant: "Now what do we do? What's the plan?"
The female black cat made a crooked and almost boastful smile, surprisingly similar to those of the legendary Dutch hunter with whom she was united as far as God and life allow: "We're going to take a walk around the port and the river, madame Dragul... we have to talk about the method that I have spoken to you."
Mina smiled. "And Blotling that we'll see..."
"...Blotling that we'll blow up."
And as if they were two schoolgirls, they laughed at the same time, to the perplexity of everyone, especially Donald and Dawson, more confused than ever.
"Mr. Duck... Don't you think we're missing something here?"
"Undoubtedly... And I don't think it's worth asking: they'll be women's things, I suppose."
"What happened? Where am I?"
"Well, it's not Heaven, because I'm forbidden to go in there... so don't worry: You're still here with us, my dear Basil," Mickey Dragul said when he saw the slender mouse slowly sit up after several seconds of Oswald applying pressure to his chest without success, until Mickey, between fed up and desperate, gave a powerful pat on the narrow chest of the detective, causing him to expel a jet of water as if it were a geyser, then make him open his eyes, coughing loudly. Basil blinked and looked around: There was no sign of the Phantom Blot, everything was silent as a grave. Even so, the detective seemed restless, searching for something in the sordid darkness with anxiety. The vampire, guessing what he was thinking, cleared his throat: "Lord Ratigan is there" and he pointed to a point on the other end of the underground chamber, where, almost motionless, was Ratigan's body with a huge hole in his stomach, as if he would have been impaled... Basil paled even more and had to make an effort not to vomit. Oswald Van Helsing approached the edge of the septic tank, observing the muddy waters, sinisterly still.
"After that hole in the head I doubt that it can be lifted again... But it will be better to demolish this to prevent that from coming out again."
"Demolish this? And how?" Basil asked, his voice weak with coughing. In response, the hunter rabbit moved away from the edge and headed to the point on the wall where the Phantom Blot had thrown him during the fight: There was a relatively long leather bag on the ground, which he took and opened, taking a look inside. Then he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Do they still work?" Mickey asked him with slight surprise. The black rabbit nodded. "Well, we'd better hurry to get out of this hole before..." But the words died in his throat when a kind of tentacle of giant octopus, black as ink, suddenly emerged from the turbid waters of the well. Oswald and Mickey jumped back, grabbing a Basil's arm each one and pulling him away from the edge, watching in horror as the tentacle writhed in the air and bumping against the walls, as if he were looking for something... Until they noticed a faint voice resounding from the other side of the chamber:
"Take me... Use me to recover your strength... And let's destroy them together."
Immediately, the tentacle threw itself right at Ratigan's dying body, wrapping his body and dragging him into the septic tank. It was so sudden and brutal that the three men could not do anything to prevent it. With a disturbing splash, the tentacle and Ratigan disappeared under the waters. A horrifying stillness was felt.
"Gentlemen, retreat."
"But..."
"I said retreat! Help me with him, Mick!"
"Now what do we do? We cannot leave it like that! That's still...!"
"I know, but it's dangerous to stay here, we'll be thinking about plan B."
"So we'll still use the little colored sparks?"
"What little colored sparks? What are you talking about, Mr. Dragul?"
"Fuck you and your big mouth, flying rat. It's the only thing that can stop him right now, you're not in a position to fight, to be honest."
"Bah, he just irritated my skin a little."
...
With the help of fishing nets, the mice of R.I.S. they began to drag the smoldering black mass towards the shore, once the flames had been extinguished. Donald and Dawson coordinated the movements so that the Blotling was transported to a safe place for eventual scientific as well as police investigation. Meanwhile, the soldiers, armed with homemade bombs, accompanied the Dragul and Van Helsing ladies to patrol quickly the surroundings of the river to suffocate any outbreak of the Blotling in some of the exits of the pipes. All were exalted and worried: Exalted because they were finally doing something against the threat that was fucking them for months... And worried because it had been a while, and still didn't appear neither Detective Basil, nor Oswald Van Helsing nor much less count Mickey Dragul... with less than an hour to start breaking the dawn.
Sudden noises, like those of a sleeping giant, caused everyone to remain still, terrified, sharpening their ears to try to find out the origin of that sound. Then, they began to hear a noise from the tube where the three men had entered. Donald and Dawson came running to the edge of the river, noticing that they were screams... Screams from Basil:
"Run, everyone!"
"What the bloody hell...?" they began to say the duck and the mouse at the same time, until the monstrous and unnatural was heard again, this time louder, even reaching to shake them. Frightened, they both ran along the river dock, shouting loudly that they should stay away, that something was coming out of there. The mice of R.I.S. and the rest of the soldiers began to move away from that sewer pipe in a hurry, shouting that everyone should get away from there immediately... Then a tremor was felt all over the dock, which caused several to fall to the ground. Had it been an explosion? In that instant, Mickey Dragul shot out from sewer, dragging both Oswald and Basil, flying over the river until they reached the opposite shore. Donald and Dawson approached them, noticing stupefied that the three looked terrible: The vampire had burns on his wings and several parts of his face and arms, as if someone had thrown acid on him or he had contact with the sun; the hunter had several bruises, blows and cuts, not to mention the intense smell of sewer that he had... smell that also had the detective, who although looked not beaten as the other two, was terribly pale. "What the bloody hell happened in there ?!" Dawson asked, losing his composure. "What was what...?" but in that instant another tremor shook them. Basil looked at him gravely.
"Mr. Dawson it's time to retire, the Phantom Blot is about to leave and if we don't act fast, it will end with everything and everyone here."
Both Donald and Dawson were speechless, as well as confused: "The Phantom... what?!"
"Explanations come later, Donald," Oswald said urgently, curtly. "We ask everyone to get away from here, so nobody will be hurt when that thing comes out and we can take care of that."
"And what are you going to do, Van Helsing?" Basil asked, now leaning between the shoulders of Donald and Dawson, because he could no longer stand on his own. At that moment, the strongest tremor they had ever experienced, almost like an earthquake, shook all the vicinity of the river, almost giving the feeling that the nearby buildings were going to collapse... Then the mouth of the sewer opened itself in a horrendous explosion that started exclamations of many of those still present, then make a black mass of ink crawl out of the rubble, staying in the middle of the river, then mutate and show the shape of a black figure with huge eyes of color yellow and a face of sharp teeth... The most horrifying thing, however, was that next to the mouth of the monster there was a deformed protuberance that wasn't like the the rest of the body, as if it was an extra atrophied appendix, like... a face. Basil paled even more if possible by noticing those features among the creature's viscous black flesh: It was the face, terribly deformed of Ratigan himself, frozen in a hideous expression... Donald almost vomited from sheer disgust and horror.
"That's the Phantom Blot, Donald; and what I'll do, Basil, is to get this over with at once." Oswald said in a blunt tone, stepping forward, still clutching the strange black bag he carried. "Does anyone have a lighter? Mine got ruined in the water." he asked extending an arm. Donald and Dawson searched in their pockets, finding Donald a silver lighter, giving it to the rabbit. At that, the vampire approached, raising his eyebrows.
"Don't even think that you're going to out there to play the damn hero on your own, I'm not going to let you steal all the credit, and you know it." Mickey Dragul said with a crooked smile. Oswald Van Helsing looked at him and replied with an equally crooked smile, then he put Donald's lighter in the pocket of his coat and extended his hand to the count. "Aaaah...Do you see that it isn't so difficult to ask for help, condemned lagomorph?"
"I wouldn't ask to another, fucking rodent." Oswald said decisively. And so they stepped forward, staring at the Phantom Blot. Then, giving a powerful kick on the floor, Mickey rose with his wings, with Oswald riding on his back, crossing the river again to approach the Phantom Blot, who apparently realizing that there was no one on the shore, had begun to move in the opposite direction of the river current, probably to to do the same as the burning black mass of the previous time and go to the city to try to destroy it. However, he didn't count on them:
"Hey you!"
The abomination of ink turned to look who had yelled at him, then a horrible grin and a grunt that resembled a laugh: Whom be those that insisted on facing him, if he could crush them like flies between his fingers? The Phantom Blot threw one of his arms towards them and turned it into a swarm of tentacles to try to catch them, but the vampire turned in the air to dodge them and the hunter knocked in the air with one of his blades, cutting the tentacles and making them fly backwards in small pops of stinking and burning ink. The Phantom Blot roared in rage and waved his arms towards them in an attempt to crush them. His two annoying opponents sketched a smile, while they remained static in the middle of the river, defiant. Then they flew upwards, continuing to ascend to the sky that little by little, became less black and more silvery and, slowly, a rose with golden stripes... They ascended at a dizzying speed, to be more than 40 meters above the ground, until they abruptly turned in the air to launch like a torpedo towards the Phantom Blot.
Everyone below held their breath. What was they intended to do?
Like a fireball, Mickey Dragul was flying in the direction of the ink monster, as if he was going to crash with him... But suddenly it stopped abruptly and from his hands he sent a cloud of bats so dense that they seemed more like an extension of his hands surrounding the Phantom Blot, holding him in place. The monster shifted desperately in that suffocating mass, trying to break free, so he didn't notice that Oswald Van Helsing took out of his leather bag a German titanium Bazooka, pointing directly at the head of the Phantom Blot... Basil, Dawson and Donald (especially Donald, who appalledly recognized that weapon as one of the crazy inventions of his uncle Ludwig Von Drake) were about to shout to stop, that perhaps that would cause an explosion that killed several around, but then a light trail of golden, red and blue colors shot out of the cannon, flying at full speed towards the monster... Which opened his mouth and swallowed it completely, as if it was a sandwich.
Eternal seconds of absolute anguish have passed, until a light began to shine from the chest of the Phantom Blot, which began to shake uncontrollably in the water, looking at his chest as if he was having a heart attack... The light, which the beginning was red, then it began to turn blue and then green and finally a yellow as it seemed to expand in the chest of the monster... Then, with a scream of agony that was heard throughout the city, the Phantom Blot burst into a ball of fire with an expansive wave even bigger and devastating than the previous one, causing some windows of some houses to break, to later observe how colored lights rose in the early morning sky and exploded in a shower of fireworks of varied nature: Golden flares, blue squibs, yellow firecrackers and red rockets that left the sky full of sparks of all colors, to amazement and shouts of joy and victory of the army after seeing such an extraordinary spectacle ... But what had happened to Mickey and Oswald? The sun had begun to rise to boil the earth in a blinding glow... Where were they?
Just a few seconds before the Phantom Blot exploded, the vampire and the hunter had backed up so much to escape the violent blast and the rain of fire and burning ink as of the sun, to which there was a swath in the sky... Descending stumbling due to the fatigue of his wings, Mickey noticed a steamboat that was entering through the river channel at that moment, so he hurried to get there, watched with anguish as sunlight illuminated implacable form every corner and about to reach them... And in fact the glare of the sun gave Oswald in the face, as well as touched the feet of Mickey, beginning to feel the unbearable burning in his boots. Scared and seeing that the ship had no place to land to shelter from the sun, Mickey had no choice but to crash into the ship's hull, plunging his claws into the metal to stay stuck there, with Oswald hanging from his back and to 10 meters of the river water, yelling at Mickey that he would kill him if he dropped it... At that, giggles left them both paralyzed.
"I see that this couple of stowaways need help... Do we lower the anchor so you can climb?"
"Ortensia!" Oswald exclaimed when he saw his smiling wife on the edge of the ship, arms crossed. A second later, several heads poked out in unison, including a face covered with a thick cloak but able to show a long flowing black hair... Mickey smiled in relief. Several gruff male voices shouted for a rope to be thrown, and immediately, a ladder made of ropes was deployed right next to them, so both men climbed with some difficulty.
The moment Mickey Dragul put a foot on the ship deck, a dozen hands fell on him, giving the impression for a moment they were going to bury stakes on him or throw torches on him, but they were several soldiers and agents of R.I.S. that they wanted to greet him, shake his hand, thank him for helping them get rid of this horrible threat, throwing on him several military capes to protect him of the sun's rays.
Looking up from the mountain of clothes, the vampire noticed a face in the middle of that ocean of people: A face covered by a traveling cloak and with the sweetest smile he has ever seen in his immortal life... Before he realized he felt Mina's icy but soft lips against his, clasping him in her arms. Happily stunned, Mickey Dragul turned his face at the sound of mocking laughter in his direction: Oswald Van Helsing, in the bow of the ship and surrounded by exalted soldiers, winked at him with his usual sly smile, with Ortensia curled up on his shoulder and both covered by a cloak of one of the soldiers. Mickey smiled back, still hugging Mina around the waist.
The sun had come out completely, bathing in a pleasant glow the vicinity of the Thames and the remains of the Phantom Blot and the Blotlings, still floating on the surface, now completely inert. At the signal of the captain of the Scotland Yard, the ship threw cannon shots into the air in victory. In fact, cannon shots would be heard for the rest of that morning. And much of the rest of that splendid spring.
TBC