Chapter 14: Through Europe With Hate, Part 4
Crown Spa Hotel, Scarborough– several days later
"Finally!" Grif said to nobody in particular as he flopped down onto one of the beds in the hotel room that he and Donut had been sharing with their VIPs. "No more stupid train rides, lugging around souvenir crap, fighting with that Philips chick over the TV, or having to keep an eye on her and Gabor– just me, a chance to do some market research, and some sack time!"
Grabbing the nearby remote, he thumbed through the various channels before landing on the BBC News.
"In our top story," the newscaster began, "the infamous neo-Nazi terrorist group known as the Scions of Thule has claimed responsibility for the attempted kidnapping of French aristocrat and fashion designer Countess Danielle Du Voisin from her Venetian mansion. When asked for comment, a representative of said organization claimed that the motive was "to make her pay for her family's sins against the Fatherland with her blood", matching previous comments made in regards to similar attempted kidnappings of American dancer Giselle Dvorak and heiress Alison R. Hart-Burnett…"
As if they'd actually go through with those threats. Grif thought. Dvorak, maybe, but Hart-Burnett or Countess Whatshername? Seriously– you kill someone whose folks are that level of loaded, you're basically throwing away free money!
Just then, something clicked in his mind. "Oh, sonuva– I was hoping that Gabor was going to be worst thing I'd have to deal with on this!"
"There were ships of shapes and sizes, scattered out along the bay!" Phyllis sang into the karaoke machine's mic. "And I thought I heard her calling/as the steamer pulled away!"
"…since when does she have pipes like that?" Donut asked as he listened intently to his charge's performance, a gin and tonic resting off to his side.
"At least since I met her on move-in day at University of Chicago," Mary replied before taking a brief sip of a near-electric blue concoction garnished with a paper umbrella and an orange slice.
Donut cocked an eyebrow. "Has she ever…"
"Back when we were freshmen, she floated it around. Not sure if she'd want to go into the music business now, what with her being hooked on the attention she gets from the tabloids." She sighed. "And even if she did decide to go through with it, it'd just get dismissed as a publicity stunt or a vanity project or whatever."
Before Donut could get another word in, he felt his phone go off, with a quick glance at the screen confirming his suspicions.
"Hold that thought," he said before answering the call. "What's the situation, Grif?"
Unknown location
"I don't know what to feel about you people," a redhead with a prominent brown streak running through her hair said to a blond-haired man dressed in a rough approximation of an SS uniform. "On the one hand, the repulsiveness of your ideology is matched only by your incompetence– at least if what I've read about your pitiful efforts to capture Miss Dvorak and the Countess Du Voisin is anything to go by."
"And on the other, Frau Warfield?" the man asked.
"You certainly managed to pick quite the target this time," the redhead continued, gesturing at a picture of a young woman with a head of dirty blonde hair pinned to a nearby wall. "Going after the daughter of one of the world's richest men? I can't help but admire the sheer audacity." She smirked. "Congratulations, Herr Metzger– as of right now, you are officially a valued customer of VENOM."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
No, you haven't misread anything– the main villain for this arc is indeed VENOM (for anyone who isn't familiar with Hasbro's less well-known IPs, the villain faction from the M.A.S.K toyline and cartoon.) I'll probably go into more detail about them whenever I do a proper M.A.S.K fic, but for now, all you need to know is that they're a bunch of crooks-for-hire with transforming vehicles and superpowered masks that can do such things as summon a bunch of razor-sharp darts out of thin air.
Also, sorry for the shortness of this chapter compared the last few, but for whatever reason, I couldn't quite get a particularly strong dynamic going between Stormer and Donut. Additionally, if anyone wants to see me try and cover this version of Pizzazz and Stormer's college years, I'd be happy to do so.
