Chapter 25

"Tooey?" Fang said.

"Yo," I replied.

"You're cool with this, right?" he said. "Just getting him calmed down like this? 'Cause I swear, we'll get through it fast. You don't have to touch him."

"No sweat," I assured him. "If it means we get to take his ass down, I'll date him, easy."

Fang and I were standing side-by-side in the back alley behind an Olive Garden, waiting for Sean.

"He's on his way," Fang said. "You'll be alone from here."

"Hey, it's what I do," I said cheerfully.

"But only for a moment," Fang said gently. And with that, he stepped back and faded into the bricks of the alley.

I flew onto the roof, and there was Sean, circling me high above before coming into a dive.

"Me love," he said. "Knew ye'd come to yer senses."

He leaned in for a kiss, and I casually stopped him. "I'm just here to see how this goes, Sean," I said gently. "Can you understand that? I don't know if I'm ready."

Looking over Sean's shoulder, I saw Kellie zipping into the restaurant. The intent was for her to disable the hostess and take her form to keep an eye on me; Fang would also be camouflaged within the restaurant as my backup.

"Aye, certainly," he said. "So, let's discuss business and pleasure."

Ew. "Yes, let's," I said. "So, Olive Garden?"

Sean shrugged. "A favorite of mine, ultimately up t' you."

"Well, that's chivalrous. But let's stick with the Olive Garden."

We put on our heavy coats for disguises and hopped off the roof, entering the restaurant.

"Um… hello," said a flustered hostess. "What… um… I forgot what I was supposed to say."

Sean chuckled. "'S all right, lass. We'll take a table for two."

"Okay," she said. "Right this way." When she led us to the table, she turned to wink at me, her eye flashing red. Kellie was in position; that was comfortable.

"So, Sean, about your demands," I said. "Money, amnesty, and… me, am I right?"

"Essentially, yes," Sean said. "Consider it the flock investin' in me. Me with the flock's current stockpile of royalties and perpetuity, my life will truly begin." He took my hand. "Our life."

I stroked his hand. "Tell me what happens to the flock then."

He scoffed. "Nothin'. Just sell a couple million more Fang dolls. Speakin' o' which, did they stop makin' me?"

"No, but you haven't sold," I told him truthfully. "People don't like you."

Sean laughed. "Well, that's not about t' change. When I get ahold of the flock's money, I'm going to be on the freakin' map, darlin' Tooey. Ye and I will be the rulers of a criminal empire like the world has never seen. Richest people alive, commandin' more respect than a mutant could dream of."

I felt my grip on his hand tighten as I instinctively tried to break it. "Criminal empire?" I said. "Sean, the world is ending."

"No it's not," he said, amused. "All yer bad guys out there are completely deluded. Nobody's takin' over the world or destroyin' it. But the flock's battle is gonna shake the world up. Ye and I are gonna watch from the sidelines and then… pick up the pieces."

I tightly gripped his wrist with both hands, preventing his escape. "I can't believe I let you take me to bed," I sneered.

"Wha…? I thought ye were comin' back t' me!" Sean said furiously.

"No way, fella," I said. "You're never having sex with me again. You're never having sex with anybody again, because you're going to spend the rest of your life locked up."

He raised the fist on his free hand. "Ye're not about t' take me alone."

I looked out the corner of my eye, where the hostess was staring at me while a couple of customers were trying to get her attention.

"Um, I'm sorry, I don't actually work here," she said. She zipped over to me in an instant, and was Kellie again in a matter of seconds, crouched on the table between me and Sean.

People were gasping and shouting, wondering what was happening. Fang materialized behind Sean and pulled his other arm behind his back.

"Olive Garden, Sean?" he said. "So not where you take a lady."

Sean kicked over the table, jostling me and Kellie. Kellie recovered first and tackled him, but he threw her off. He ran towards the exit, Kellie intercepting him several times, but each time Sean would ram her out of his way.

Imogen was waiting at the exit. She took one look at Sean, and I almost believed that she hated him as much as I did.

Imogen went completely berserk, baring her needle fangs and pointing them straight to Sean's throat.

"Im… Imogen?" Sean stammered. "No! Don't!"

But in the struggle, Kellie had managed to catch Sean and disable him, pinning him against the wall. Fang managed to pull Imogen away, and I caught up to them in the back alley.

"Imogen?" I said gently. "Did you forget to take your injection?"

Imogen cleared her throat. "Maybe," she said.

"Come on, dude, you want to be a giant bat-monster forever?" I exclaimed.

"All right, I forgot," Imogen said. "Step off. Right now, we're takin' in Sean, aye?"

"Yes," Fang said. "Kellie, you hold him tight. I'll grab Nudge and Iggy and we'll take off."

Before Fang could move, we were assailed by the sound of machine-gun fire. We all ducked, as right over our heads the brick wall was chipped into pieces by bullets.

We all turned to the entrance of the alley. A masked gunman was standing there.

"Everybody step away from Fang," he growled.