Disclaimer: I do not own King of the Hill
After taking a short break, I'm back with the next chapter, enjoy.
(Seth and Ava's hideout 11:22 p.m.)
Seth had returned to the hideout where after getting verbally assaulted by Ava, spent the next ten minutes explaining what exactly happened to him back at Strickland Propane.
"A werewolf, like the one mentioned in those campaign posters we've seen?" Ava asked
"That would be my guess but you should have seen me out there, that flea bag didn't lay a claw on me," Seth said with excitement, "it's all thanks to that little gem that you said was powerless."
"Maybe I'm wrong about that gem."
"Since I pretty much proved that its powers are real, I say we go after a larger target."
"Which of this town's old rich guys do you have in mind?"
"All of them." Seth said with a grin that worried Ava
"I'm sorry but we might have only a few more days in this town, how do you expect us to steal from them all?"
Seth reached inside his coat and pulled out a newspaper. He opened it and turned it to the fourth page before handing it to Ava who saw that it was the paper from today. She carefully read the article and then understood what Seth was planning.
"Seth, I like the way you think and all but this is too risky to attempt." Ava stated her concern
"As long as I have the gem then nothing will go wrong," Seth said, "plus who's going to stop us, those detectives who've been on our tail for over a year or that werewolf who I think got humiliated after our fight.
"Still sounds dangerous, true you have that gem but what about me, I don't have any magical gems."
Something started to build up inside of Seth as his expression changed from joy to anger.
"Fine, I'll do the job myself," Seth shouted, "that'll be more money for me."
He stormed off to the bathroom and slammed the door shut leaving Ava stunned by his sudden outburst. He walked over to the sink, turned on the faucet, and ran his hands underneath it then splashed some water on to his face.
"That was weird," he thought, "I have never yelled at her like that before."
He splashed more water on to his face before looking up into the mirror were he came face to face with a terrifying sight. Staring right back at him was himself but with murky brown skin with tiny bumps while his blue eyes were now a shade of dark orange. He stepped backwards and lost his balance when the rug on the floor slipped out from under him causing him to nearly hit his head on the bathtub. Ava came barging in when she heard him fell and helped him up. He once again looked into the mirror and saw that his reflection was again normal.
"Something is going on, this is the second time tonight that I have seen that thing."
(Rainy Street 11:30)
Berry quickly pulled the Cadillac into the Hill's driveway where he parked the car, got out, helped Bobby get out of the backseat, and hurried into the garage which they opened due to the door opener Bobby had in the car. Before they could take another step the door that leads into the house swung open and Hank stepped through the door. When he saw the boys standing in the middle of his garage he wanted to know why they were there, that is when he saw blood dripping from Bobby's pant leg to the clean concrete floor.
"Dear lord, what happened to Bobby?" Hank questioned in fear for Bobby's life
"I got shot," Bobby replied while holding back the pain, "can we please hurry, once the bullet is out I should able to heal quickly."
Hank told Berry to take Bobby into the living room and lay him on the couch. Once Bobby got settled both Hank and Berry were trying to figure out what to do to help.
"I don't know how to remove a bullet I'm only sixteen." Berry stated
"I could call Allison, maybe she could help us."
"Cameron's mother doesn't know that I'm the Arlen Werewolf," Bobby who was still in pain pointed out, "how are you going to explain to her how I got shot?"
"That's true," Berry agreed, "besides she's a psychiatrist which isn't the type of doctor we need at the moment."
Hank tried his best to think of somebody that could help but everyone he could think of didn't have the skills to do the job. Although one person did cross his mind.
"Dale would know what to do but he has this weird vendetta against Bobby."
Bobby scooted up on the couch until his back was laying against the arm rest.
"Didn't grandpa ever teach you?" Bobby asked
Thinking back to his childhood when his father tried to teach him how to shoot, he did remember one time where he accidentally shot one of his father's war buddies in the arm and Cotton decided it would be good especially with Hank's bad aim to learn how to remove a bullet.
"He did but I have to warn you it'll be very painful." Hank informed
"Dad, if I can take a beating from things like a Chupacabra, a half giant, and a ghost, then I'm pretty sure I can stand having a bullet removed from my leg." Bobby stated
"Don't forget about the demigod." Berry reminded him of Jason
Hank saw there was no other choice so he decided to removed the bullet himself.
"Okay then, Berry, go get me knife, a pair of tweezers, a bowl of hot water, disinfectant, some towels and bandages."
"Right away, Mr. Hill."
Berry rushed around the house gathering up the supplies Hank needed to do the procedure on Bobby's leg. He turned a few minutes later with the items and gave them to Hank who then moved the coffee table closer to the couch where he laid one of the towels on followed by Bobby's leg.
"Ready?" Hank asked making sure his son was ready
"Go ahead."
Fifteen minutes after struggling to find the bullet, Hank was able to remove it and placed it on the towel under Bobby's leg. He carefully cleaned out the wound with water and applied the disinfectant before taping the bandage to his leg.
"How long do you think it'll take to heal?" Berry wondered
"Maybe a day or two," Bobby guessed, "my healing powers might be amazing but there nothing like Wolverine's."
After explaining who Wolverine is to Hank, Bobby decided it was best that if he went to bed and resumed his mission to capture the criminals tomorrow. Berry then ask if he could stay the night instead of having Hank drive him home late at night mostly he didn't want to explain to his parents why he's out so late.
"Hey, dad, is it okay if Berry sleeps in my bed while I sleep out here."
"Sure," Hank said, "I'll go get the guest blanket.
(8: 02 a.m.)
Hank who had spent twenty minutes cleaning up the mess in the living room and over two hours cleaning up the blood in the garage was asleep in his bed. His sleeping ended when the phone started to ring, getting up he made his way to the kitchen and answered the phone.
"Hello." He greeted with a groggy voice
The person on the other end of the phone started shouting into Hank's ear who was force to hold the phone away to prevent any damage to his eardrum. Once the person quit yelling Hank brought the phone back to his ear.
"Now, calmly tell me what happened."
As the person informed Hank what happened Bobby and Berry walked into the kitchen with a look of concern on their faces.
"Don't worry, sir, I'll be right there."
Hank quickly got dressed and started to head out the door when the boys stopped him, who asked to tag along for they had a good idea where Hank was going. They soon found out their hunch was right for Hank was pulling into Strickland Propane where he saw Buck Strickland who was running around frantically while the police were having a look around. They all got out of the truck and walked up to Mr. Strickland.
"Thanks for coming, Hank." Buck said with relief for the man who could help had arrived
Buck lead the Hills into the building and towards his office where Hank saw the room in shambles.
"What happened, sir?" Hank asked pretending not to know
"I got robbed, Old Top, not only here but at my house."
"Somebody robbed your house and Strickland Propane?"
"I woke up this morning and all my money and awards were gone plus those crooks took the bottle I was saving for when Thatherton goes out of business."
"Do the cops have any leads?" Bobby spoke up
"Well those two detectives from Dallas think it was the same people from the bank robbery."
"Sure why blame criminals when the culprit is the Arlen Werewolf." Some one said
They turned to the office door to see Dale standing with a look of determination on his face, a cigarette in his mouth, and a stack of flyers in his hand.
"Dale, this is a propane dealership, there is no smoking in here." Hank yelled at his friend, "more importantly, what are you doing here?"
Dale removed his cigarette from his mouth and tossed it into a nearby potted plant before walking up this the group.
"I'm here to get your boss on the Vergil Min campaign train."
"Sorry but I'm voting for Ted Wasonasong." Buck informed
"You'll change your mind after I show you proof that the werewolf is responsible," Dale said, "follow me."
With nothing better to do they all followed Dale outside where he showed them a giant hole along with several claw marks and blood stains on the ground.
"You see gentlemen, the Arlen werewolf was here." Dale proudly said
"I'm getting real tired of this werewolf nonsense of yours," Hank yelled, "for one thing the werewolf does not exist and another thing, quit trying to blame the werewolf every time something bad happens."
"I don't do that, Hank." Dale disagreed with Hank's statement
"Oh yeah, just last week you said that the werewolf stole your mail."
"Well, somebody took it."
"It was Sunday."
Dale was about to say something when some one got their attention. They all look to see Detectives Stokes and Chase standing there staring directly at them.
"If I could interrupt your little spat, I have something to tell Mr. Strickland." Stokes said
"Please, tell me you found something that will lead to the crooks that did this to me?"
"We did," Chase answered as he pulled out a small plastic evidence bag, "the investigators found sand near the large hole over there which means that the robbers from the bank were here."
"See. Dale, no werewolf."
Greg and Alan glanced at each other with the "Should we tell them more?" look are their faces.
"Funny you should say that for gentlemen in the hat is correct, a beast resembling a large wolf was here last night, both Detective Chase and I saw it."
"Told you so, Hank." Dale gloated
"Seriously, your buying Mr. Gribble's insane werewolf story." Bobby said while trying to keep his cover
Bobby looked up at Dale who like at the football game glared at him through his sunglasses. Hank noticed the tension growing between Bobby and Dale.
"Uh, Dale, would you like to tell the detective about your personal face to face with the werewolf?"
"You just said it doesn't exist." Dale pointed out
"It doesn't but I'm sure it could help with the investigation."
"Fine, it all started one night last September when I was doing some light gardening."
"At night?" Stokes question Dale's story
As Dale went on to tell his fabricated tales, Hank, Bobby, Berry, and Mr. Strickland snuck away to the other side of the store.
"This is just terrible," Buck said continuing to grieve, "to think that this robbery happened on the worst week of the year."
"Why is that, sir?" Hank asked
"Tomorrow night I was going to attend a huge event but I guess I can't."
"What event?"
"The 7th Annual Arlen Gala is tomorrow evening, it's where the wealthiest people in Arlen go to have a good time plus this year they're holding an auction where I was going to put up my valuables that I didn't want anymore but they got stolen."
"Then why are you upset if you were going to get rid of them?" Berry questioned
I'm upset because some punk stole them before I could make money by having them auctioned off."
Buck's cell phone started to ring, he answered it then left to talk to his insurance agent that was on the other end leaving Bobby, Hank, and Berry by themselves. They quickly decided to leave and started to talk about what the event Mr. Strickland just talked about.
"So the wealthiest people in Arlen are gathering in one place along with very valuable items which they are planning to auction off." Bobby went over that Buck said
"You don't think Seth and Ava are going to try something do you?" Berry asked
"Why wouldn't they, it's an all you can steal buffet."
"I don't think its such a good idea for you to go after these criminals," Hank stated his concern, "after all you got shot last time."
"Not by them, that Detective Stokes guy shot me."
"WHAT!" Hank shouted causing him to swerve into the other lane for a few seconds
"Didn't I tell you that?"
Hank didn't say anything as they he drove Berry home.
(Seth and Ava's hideout 10: 36 a.m.)
Ava was sitting out in the living room of the apartment reading up about their target for tomorrow night, her eyes were more focused on the bedroom door where Seth was sleeping. She had gotten up around seven o'clock which was normal for her but Seth was usually up before her even if they did pull off an all night heist. Something about Seth had changed since he stole that gem from the bank, he's been having random burst of anger, he's become more greedy, and the weirdest thing is that he claims to see something when he looks at his reflection. Looking up at the clock that now showed it was twenty till eleven, she decided it was time for him to get up so they could plan the heist for tomorrow night. She walked up to the bedroom door and knocked four times.
"Seth, get up," she shouted through the door, "Seth!"
She knocked four more times, still no answer, again she knocked.
"Come on, honey, you can sleep after we pull of the gala job."
"Go away." Seth shouted back in a voice that sounded distorted
"Seth, you okay," Ava asked as he reached for the doorknob, "I'm coming in."
"STAY OUT!"
Without another thought Ava swung up the door, her eyes widened in horror at the thing in front of her.
What is going on with Seth, more importantly will Bobby be able to stop him and Ava on their next heist? Stay Tuned.