Warriors: The New Era.
Chapter Twenty One: The Hidden Enemy
Enjoy.
"How is this possible?" Sparkpelt asked.
Breezepelt snarled at the TV "This is no good."
"-and during this bold breakout from an unknown assailant, it is confirmed that Sasha Bourne, Ashfur, Shredtail, Snowtuft, Jacque Roberts, Susan Roberts, Rushtooth, Houndleap, the Serial Killer One-Eye and the Metahuman Mapleshade. If you see anyone with a slight familiarity to their likeliness, report it immediately. It is believed that Warden Sharp was indeed on site-"
"She's back," Sparkpelt snarled "That bitch tortured my brother! She has to pay!"
Jack Graves nodded "I am hunting tonight. My mission has not changed."
"So that's it?!" Jayfeather snarled "You show up out of the blue, and just expect to walk away again?!"
"Jayfeather shut up!" Half Moon yelled, and the man instantly lowered his head in shame. Half Moon stpped forward "How long will you be gone?"
"All night. Someone has to help catch them."
Icecloud hugged her long distance boyfriend "Stay safe."
"Yes ma'am," Jack grinned, giving her a thumbs up before he stepped out of the house.
Hazeltail sighed "We reunited, and now we must separate."
Lionblaze nodded, saddened "I fear as if we are destined to fight this fight. Eternally."
"Then we will need some fighters," Cinderheart nodded, knowing full well what she was suggesting.
Jayfeather snapped his head up in rage "Absolutely not! Fernsong stays in the basement! We haven't checked his story yet."
Ivypool nodded "Yeah...we dont really know is he is an ally ot not."
"Y'all are forgetting that me and Poppyfrost traveled with this guy for several days," Sparkpelt scowled "I trust him."
Jayfeather growled "I don't."
Foxleap and Midnight exited the basement, the two bickering about small things.
Midnight turned to the group "Hey, WHY THE HELL is there a clone of Lionblaze in the basement?!"
Honeyfern shrugged "He says hes the son of Lionblaze and Cinderheart from the future. But we dont know if its true."
"Why dont you just do a DNA test?"
The group could feel each other mentally facepalm.
"You DID do one right?"
"Jayfeather, you never sai-"
"FOXLEAP should have recommended th-"
"You mean, NO ONE thought of this?"
Midnight smirked as the crew pointed fingers and shifted blame about their stupidity.
She truly missed them.
"Another Shot, Miss?"
"Keep them coming until I crash," Poppyfrost scowled, slumped over the bar table.
The bartender poured her another glass of cheap booze, and Poppyfrost guzzled it down, the whiskey burning her throat and fuming out her nasal passage.
Her hair was unkempt, her eyelids crusty, and she could feel a halitosis exhalation sicken her lungs.
"God...why do I miss him?"
She twirled around the stool, looking at the few people in the bar, a group of men playing pool, while several others kept to themselves.
The reason for her drunk parade was simple.
She missed Scourge.
Not in a romantic way, far from it, but she didn't realize how long she and Scourge had danced the same tango until she was dancing alone. The two were polar opposites. Chaotic Good and Chaotic Evil. Monster and Hero.
King of Bloodclan, and Queen of Beggars.
"I think you and I are destined to do this forever."
The next moment he was dead.
"Excuse me," The tapping on her shoulder gathered her attention, as she turned to a blonde woman, in equal height. She had round glasses and pursed lips, and nodded at Poppyfrost "Do you mind if I ask you, a local, some questions?"
"Sure..." She curled her lip "I ain't in the mood for this psychiatric evaluations."
"How did you know I was a psychiatrist?"
Poppyfrost shrugged, not expecting to get it right "What do you want?"
"I'm here to talk to you about Scourge Andora."
Poppyfrost raised a brow, looking at the woman in confusion "And how should I know anything about him?"
"Because I've been in Forrestlake since the anarchic upraisal. Everyone must know something about him. It was always my job to know him. I was his psychiatrist."
Poppyfrost chortled "Then you probably didn't do a good job."
The woman agreed "Yes. I didn't. I was too young, to naive to see that some men were just purely and simply evil."
"He wasn't all evil, though," Poppyfrost snapped, and then hiccuped "If you knew him long enough, you knew something's he didn't do. He could have killed my children, but didn't. Maybe for selfish reasons, but he didn't kill them."
"I disagree," the woman shook her head "He had no conscience."
"How do you know?" Poppyfrost growled "I was probably the only one who knew him truly."
"I knew him when he just started off...in December 1999. I was assigned to evaluate this twelve year old boy, with blood still on his face and lips. His hair reached his shoulders then, and his blue eyes were dull and emotionless. Cold eyes...the devil's eyes. I spent seven years of my life trying to convince the world that the boy was not a threat, and then another four trying to keep him locked up. Because I understood that what was behind that boy's eyes was no logic. No reason, no sensibility, just evil in it's simplest and purest form. There was no humanity in that man..."
"You're WRONG!" Poppyfrost roared, standing up from her chair "He was a VICTIM! Like all of us! A pawn in a game beyond our understanding!"
The woman nodded, pushing her glasses in place "Goodbye, Poppyfrost."
Before she could reply, the woman had turned heel and strutted away, with an air of importance about her. Poppyfrost groaned, going back to her drink.
It was only after the seventh drink she found out she never got the woman's name.
And she never told the woman her name.
She stared the drink in her hand, suddenly becoming aware that the bar was silent. She looked up to see no bartender serving drinks.
Poppyfrost was alone.
She looked back at the door to see a gun pointed at her face.
Instantly, she was sober.
She flipped up and behind the bar counter to avoid several shots from the mechanical assassin. She drawled her revolver, priming it up instantly.
"So you came for me? You want to kill me, you could have done so on that rooftop!"
Silence.
"Oh, PLEASE! That strong and silent shit don't scare me!"
Silence.
She risked a peek over the counter.
There was no one.
She stood up, hearing the noise of a motorcycle speeding away.
Poppyfrost looked down at the counter in shock.
A note lay there.
She picked up the piece of paper, and read it aloud.
Dear Queen Of Beggars.
I apologize for being so upfront about this, but I have no other ways to convince you to flee. Despite the belief, I have no desire to kill you or your friends at the moment. Remember that next time you thwart me. The freeing of Mapleshade and her fellow convicts was for a motive you must know all to well.
I would like to play a game.
The game is simple. Defeat all who oppose you, and I will reveal myself. My name, my face, my identity as a whole, and we will then converse. Even if you do not wish to play, Mapleshade is coming for you regardless, so in truth, you have no choice.
What the winner gets is easy.
If I win, I have less thorns stopping me from my mission.
And if you win, you get the most important thing one could get...
Rock's weakness.
Poppyfrost gasped in shock, and continued to read.
We can agree that while I may be a boss, he is the Final Boss. The big one. You defeat him, you win the game. With the death of Rock, so to will fall his empire of crime.
And to clarify that while I am NOT to be trusted, I do have more, that perhaps will make you trust me more...
Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Ivypool may have powers beyond belief, but YOU will always be the threat. I know it. Rock knows it. Scourge knew it. And so does the new enemy. And it is with a heavy heart, I regret to disclose the information below.
You have a spy in your midst.
One of your friends, is a turncoat, giving information to Rock and the Dark Forest. I have knows this for a while , but do to Sol's death, it is imperative I write to you this information. With Sol, it was simple. Learn, stow it, and use it later on. Sol was a scalpel. Rock is a sledgehammer, destroying all in it's path. This turncoat has fed information from the beginning of the return of the rising shadows.
I repeat, I do not WISH to kill you, but should you become to great a threat to stop...we will ALL be out of options.
Yours in Competence
"The Assassin."
Poppyfrost set the letter down, thoughts whirling in her head.
A spy?! Impossible...
She needed another drink.
Tigerheart sighed as Dovewing began to panic, shaking her head as he drove her near the house.
"You have to face them," Tigerheart said sternly.
Dovewing groaned "I know, but must it be this soon?"
"Yes."
Dovewing stopped arguing, and bit her lip as the car pulled into the driveway.
She looked at the house, it hadn't changed much, save for some newer rooms on the ground and second floor.
She opened the car door "In for a penny, in for a pound."
Dovewing sulked up the pathway to the door, and when she reached the door, she lifted her hand to knock.
And took a deep breath, tapping her knuckles against the wooden door.
Tigerheart looked on in approval. He nodded his head, proud of his fiance.
The door opened, and Dovewing widened her eyes.
It was Fallen Leaves, his curly ginger hair bouncing with the man.
He widened his eyes in recognition "Uh...IVYPOOL!"
"WHAT?! I'm BUSY!"
"IT'S YOUR SISTER!"
*whump* *Thud*
Ivypool burst into view, eyes as wide as saucers "Sister?"
Dovewing nodded "Hey Ivy. Long time, eh?"
And there you have it.
A spy in the GROUP? Is it true? Is it just a ploy from the assassin? What exactly is his motive? Money? Power? Revenge? All three?
You'll find out soon.
If you stick around.
Adios.