# 6
By Brian Campo ( bcampo@hotmail.com )
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. Sansker and all Spawn related characters are owned by Todd McFarlane productions and I do not contest that ownership. This story is in no way official, and should be taken as seriously as kids playing Spawn in their backyards. Please, do not sue me, I am hardly worth it :)
Warning: This story contains harsh language and EXTREMELY graphic violence. If you are easily offended, or think your mom might drop a load of hurt on you for reading this, don't. Consider yourself warned.
-A change of heart part four
Hong Kong- 6-10-2200 A pretty young woman wearing a tan over coat smiled into the camera and said, "Hello. This is Nancy Holden reporting from Hong Kong. The body count is in this morning. When all the dust has settled from the terrorist attacks that have rocked Hong Kong, four hundred lay dead. One hundred and eighty UN troopers, two dozen police officers and nearly two hundred civilians were killed in the combined attacks on Hong Kong's Hilton Hotel and Flesh Pot night club. The hospital's in the city are filled to capacity and the Red Cross has been called in to give aid during this time of crisis.
I spoke with UN Colonel Lionel Brighton earlier this morning regarding what the UN is planning at this point and he had this to say."
A clip was played of a white haired man in uniform who looked like he was two seconds away from crying. "The United Nations are still discussing the situation here in Hong Kong, but want the world to know that the people responsible for these horrendous acts will be brought to justice. We will not tolerate terrorism, and as far as I am concerned there will be a reckoning."
Nancy pulled the mike back to her own mouth and asked, "Will the Shadow Strikers be called in to assist?"
"One of their own was killed in the Hilton Incident, I believe it would be safe to assume that they will be involved in some way."
The live picture of Nancy appeared back on the screen. "There were mixed reactions through out the city as Hong Kong's large Vampire population spoke out in defense of their fallen leader."
The picture switched to a clean cut young man wearing a business suit. "I think it's a load of bullshit." said the man. "John Sansker wasn't doing anything to anybody. These "terrorist attacks" as they are being called, were self defense. It's bigotry plain and simple. The UN is afraid that the Vampires are getting too powerful, so they start a confrontation."
"The man was a Nazi." said the reporter. "You don't think he should be arrested?"
"That was over two hundred years ago. Is there no forgiveness in the world? Doesn't anyone believe in redemption anymore?"
The picture changed to a tall, lanky man with dark hair. "I know John Sansker." he said. "I've been writing his speeches for years. The man has done nothing but good for his people, and the UN is crucifying him."
"Do you feel that there is any truth to the allegations that Sansker was developing chemical weapons?"
"Lies." said the man. "Pure and simple."
Nancy once again appeared on camera, and said, "In the midst of all this turmoil, one question remains. Where in the world is John Sansker?"
Livin' lovin' gettin' loose
Masturbatin' with a noose
Now someone's kickin' out the chair
- Aerosmith circa 1987
The Jungles of Mexico- "Welcome to the House of the Devil." said John, indicating the collapsing building in front of him with a broad sweep of his arms.
"I don't know who owns this place," said Carl. "but they need to fire their maintenance man."
"It has gone down hill. This is only the front door, anyway. The real place is under the ground." They picked their way through the rubble, stepping over old beer bottles and broken bar stools. A large neon sign had fallen through the roof, and only the letters "The Titty Tw-" were visible.
"Is there going to be anybody home, Tarzan?" asked Carl. He had been calling John that all night. Shortly after dusk, John had gone hunting in hopes of stirring up some hot blood for them to drink. He had returned wearing a loincloth made from one of the spotted coyotes that had developed in the area, earning himself a good laugh from both Carl and Mark. The rest of the animal's skin had been made into a makeshift canteen which he had filled with blood. The three vampires had drank their fill and started off on their long trek through the jungle.
"No," said John, giving Carl a look that said the joke was getting old. "I heard some bad shit hit this place back in the late nineteen hundreds and the whole damn clan got their selves killed. It's too bad. They used to have a dancer with moves that could wake the dead."
They walked through a large hole in the back wall of the building, and Carl took a sharp intake of breath. They were standing on top of a vast canyon, and the ground dropped away only two feet in front of them. Old diesel trucks lined the edges of the canyon, and there was a good sized pile of them at the bottom two hundred feet down.
"They might want to fire the valet, too." said Carl. John started down the side of the canyon, and and Carl and Mark followed. About thirty feet down, the ground changed from loose dirt and gravel to hard stone steps. Carl was starting to get an idea of what they were standing on. It looked like one of those Aztec temples he used to see in National Geographic when he was a kid. They were only about fifty miles south of Texas. What would the aztecs have been doing this far north?
"Hey, John. This place what I think it is?"
"Yeah." said John. "Aztecs used to sacrifice a thousand people a year here. There was an ungodly amount of blood spilled on these stones before the vampires ever took over. One thing's for certain, this ain't a happy place. Sometimes I think it's haunted."
Carl smirked and said, "You believe in ghosts?" Just when you thought you knew someone.
"Believe in them? Hell, I've gone toe to toe with a couple in my day."
At the base of the temple, there was an opening. It had been overgrown with vines, but it only took a couple minutes of tugging and tearing to clear them out of the way. To each side of the entrance, giant snakes had been carved into the stone. John went in and Carl started to follow. He turned to make sure Mark was following him, and saw the young man staring up the temple's face.
"You comin', Mark?" he asked.
Mark looked down and smiled. "Yeah, just a second. You don't get to see stuff like this every day."
"Well, try to keep up, I'd hate for you to get lost in there."
Mark watched Carl disappear into the darkness of the temple's entrance and when he was sure he was alone, he reached into his pocket. His hand reappeared, and it held a small black device similar to a pager. He flipped a switch on top of it and a LED light on the front began to flash rhythmically. The little black box went back into his pocket, and he walked into the temple.
"Ah, the memories." said John. Every thing he saw reminded him of his time he had spent at Casa del Diablo. "I banged a girl named Bloody Mary in that chamber." he told Carl pointing into a room who's walls were lined with skulls. The walked past the opening to another room with what looked like a large swimming pool in the floor. "We used to fill that with blood and swim in it."
As they walked farther into the temple, Carl began to notice a distant roaring sound. It grew louder, until it was echoing of the walls and ringing in their ears.
"What the hell is that?" he yelled to John.
"Under ground river. It runs right under the temple. You'll see."
After another ten minutes of twists and turns, John led them out onto a platform over looking a rush of white water. The river was about thirty five feet wide and was moving very fast. The noise of it was deafening, and they were shouting back and forth to be heard. John pointed at a small cave entrance on the opposite side of the river and said, "It's in there."
Carl leaned close to his ear and said, "That's nice, John, how do we get over the river?"
"We don't. We go under it."
He walked back a few feet and got down on his hands and knees. Taking a deep breath, he began to blow on the floor. His breath blew back the dust of ages, revealing intricate designs that had been carved into the hard rock floor. Carl watched, amazed, as images were revealed that were so fantastic, he could only guess at their meaning. There were vampires changing into dragons, and unicorns. One image showed hundreds of vampires hanging from the breasts of one very large vampire. They were nursing, drinking her blood. John continued to blow, and more was revealed. The image of a half man, half snake creature appeared. It was a picture of John.
John sat back on his heels and wiped the dust from his nose and eyes. He pressed down on his own image with his fingertips. The piece of floor sank in a little, and a couple of feet over a piece of floor raised a little.
"Grab that." yelled John.
Carl grabbed the edge that was sticking up and began to gently pull on it. It came easily, turning out to be the cover for an underground chamber. When John had sufficient room to get his fingers under it, he picked up the cover and moved it away from the hole.
"Oh, shit!" said Carl, back peddling away from the hole. Snakes began thrusting their heads up out of the hole. The vipers slid out onto the floor and slithered for cover. The hole was full of them, they writhed in one giant boiling mass of tails and heads.
John stood up and removed his loincloth. He said, "I'll be right back." and began to change into his snake form. Twenty seconds later, he slid into the hole and disappeared into the mass of writhing snakes.
John slid down the tunnel, unafraid. The snakes knew him and let him pass unharmed. The floor and walls vibrated with the power of the river over his head. These walls were solid, they had stood for hundreds of years, and would likely stand for hundreds more.
He reached the end of the tunnel and pushed gently at the ceiling above him. The cover lifted, spilling dust down onto John's head. He crawled out of the hole sneezing and coughing. The opening to the little cave was only a couple feet in front of him. He slithered through it .
The room made to hold his heart was simple, just a small stone table and an iron box. It looked exactly as he had left it three hundred and twenty years before. Dried blood still stained the stone table where Satanika Pandemonium had used a sacrificial knife to remove his still beating heart from his chest. Her bloody hand prints were still visible on the sides of the iron box. More blood stained the floor where they had made love after the operation.
There were times that John asked himself why he ever left in the first place. He would try to imagine how different his life would have turned out if he had stayed. There was no way, John was too ambitious. He couldn't settle for staying in a dive in the middle of mexico waiting for his next victim to stumble through the door.
The vampire clan had stayed behind and grown weak. It was only a matter of time before a human with a little killing know-how came along and wiped out the whole bunch of them. He missed them. They were the closest thing to a family he'd ever had. Since he became a vampire anyway.
Enough of this. Now wasn't the time for a walk down memory lane. He picked up the little iron box with his misshapen, scale covered hands. The hinges were still well oiled after all this time, and didn't give off the slightest squeak when he opened the lid. Inside, his heart beat a strong rhythm, sucking in and expelling the blood it soaked in.
It was safe. Either that bitch Persephone had been fucking with him, or he had beat her accomplices here. He took one last look around the cave, at what looked like a female ass print on the floor, and then he went back out.
He held up the box so Carl could see it. Carl gave him a thumbs up sign and grinned. John tucked the box under his arm and went back down into the snake infested tunnel.
"I should do something with this place." he said to himself. His plans for Hong Kong were all done for, but there was no reason he couldn't start over down here. Maybe settle down for a couple of years, let the world forget that John Sansker existed. The idea was actually kind of appealing to him.
He raised himself out of the hole and saw Carl kneeling in front of him, his hands clasped behind his head. There were many men standing behind him with energy rifles.
"What the fu-?"
A gun roared behind him and John felt a bullet tear through his brain.
Words began to form out of the darkness around John, and he strained to understand them. He heard a moaning sound and realized a few seconds later that it was himself who was making the noise.
"Jesus Christ, Adam!" he heard Mark say. "How hard is this to understand? Every time he starts to come around or move, you shoot him again!"
Another gunshot, and he sank into the darkness once more.
"No, it's ok. Let him come around." Mark sounded like he was close by. John focused on his voice and got ready to lunge for it. He jerked his arms, and found that he couldn't move. Consciousness came in a rush, and he snapped completely awake.
"You might as well relax, John. Those cuffs were made for people a lot stronger than you, so you're not going anywhere."
John was laying on his side, his hands bound behind him. His feet were shackled with a devise that kept them slightly separated. There were twenty men in the room, and they all smelled like vampires to John. Wait, not that one. He spied a man in the crowd wearing a pair of night vision goggles. He was human.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Mark?"
Mark squatted down on his haunches and said, "The same thing I've been doing for four years. Stealing your heart."
Through gritted teeth, John said, "When I found you, you were starving, living on the streets. I give you a home, feed you, give you the chance to be more than a street rat sucking the blood out of cats and bums. This is how you repay me?"
"An hour before you saved me from the streets I was clinking glasses with close friends at Twistelli's in New York. They toasted me and my endeavor, and then I made my good-bye's. A change of clothes and a little motor oil wiped in my hair and I became your charity case. Face it, John, you've been duped."
"I'll kill you." said John. "You will bleed for this, long and hard. Those friends of yours? I'm going to take their intestines and strangle you with them."
Mark laughed at him. "You just don't get it, do you? I have your heart. Pretty soon, it will be my heart. I'll have your powers, your strength, your speed. And you? You're going to be dead."
"You did this all because you wanted to be as fast and strong as me? Just what do you think an unimaginative little shit like you could do with these powers? Deliver pizza in thirty minutes or less?"
"I did all this because I'm sick of your pussified attempts at ruling the world. I'm sick of seeing you go on tv and try to convince the world to like you. Who cares if they like you? If you would have lead us like you were supposed to, we could have ruled over them. Instead we drink blood behind closed closet doors and beg them to accept us. I took your heart because I want to rule the vampire nation, and with it, the world. I just don't want to wait for a thousand years to get as powerful as you."
"You don't have what it takes to lead the vampires, Mark. The first time they see you flinch at the sight of blood, they'll tear you to pieces. "
Mark got to his feet and backed away from John. "Soon, they will not call me Mark anymore. They will call me Dracul. I will be the new Dragon that you could never be. And as for my bloodthirstiness, how does this suit you?" He dropped to one knee next to where Carl was kneeling. He reached into Carl's boot and pulled out the Spear of Destiny. In one flood movement, he slashed Carl's throat, and drove the spear head into his heart.
John roared, his voice somewhere between his human one and that of the snake. Carl coughed, spraying blood and smoke from his wounds. His eyes locked on John's and then Carl slumped forward onto his face.
"You're fucking dead! I'll rip your head off, I'll shit down you neck! You're fucking hamburger when I'm done with you!" He strained against his bonds, his muscles bulging and knotting.
Mark watched him with an amused expression on his face. "You're not getting out of those." he said. "They're standard issue Shadow Strikers inhibitor cuffs."
"The Vampire Nation still supports me, you little cur." John spit at him. "You're the reason that Hong Kong failed. They'll kill you when they've heard what you've done."
"They will only know what I tell them, which is that the UN killed you. I'll tell them of how you made me swear that I would avenge you. Yeah, they'll be plenty pissed. Probably mad enough to follow me into war."
Mark approached John, the spear head held at his side. "Be happy, John, you get to die for your people. In the years to come, you'll be revered as a patriot, as a hero."
John rolled away from him, flopping over onto his back and shoving himself away from Mark.
"Mommy vampires will point at your statue," continued Mark. " and they'll say to the little baby vampires, "Now there is a great man. He died for the cause." Don't you want the little baby vampires to like you, John?"
"Get the fuck away from me." shouted John. He curled his legs up to his chest and then thrust them out. They narrowly missed Mark, but it was enough to make the younger man back off. John did a back roll and came up standing on his feet. He wobbled, trying to keep his balance. He was all too aware of the rushing river at his back. One more step and he would fall in.
"That's the problem with you," said Mark. "you're always thinking about yourself. You don't even care about the little baby vampires, do you?" He stepped forward and swiped with the spear head. John bent his knees and pushed as hard as he could. He shot out across the river, Mark's cut missing him by inches. His body convulsed and then went rigid. He hit the freezing water of the river, and felt paralysis take over his body. Unable to kick or swim, he sank like a stone beneath the rushing water.
"I really wish he hadn't done that." said Mark as he stared at the spot where John had disappeared.
"We could make Adam go get him." said one of the other vampires "He ain't a vampire, so he can cross moving water."
Mark looked at him like he was crazy. "Did your momma drop you on your head? That water would kill anybody! You're a fucking idiot. Let's go"
They left the temple, Mark going slowly so that he could walk next to Adam.
"You did good in there." he said. "I'm sorry if I yelled at you. If Sansker had gotten up before we got the cuffs on him, it could have gone badly."
"It's ok." said Adam as he pulled off his night vision goggles. Adam was an albino, and his eyes were a pale pink color. His long white hair had been braided into thick dreads and and pulled back away from his face. He looked youthful, but there was no real way to judge his age. "I could have taken him, you know."
"I know." said Mark. "This worked out for the best, though. There will be plenty for you to do in the coming weeks."
They entered the transport, and Mark began to strip off his clothes. A woman in a nurse's uniform brought soap, washcloths, and water and began to wash the dirt and grime from his body. In the next room, doctors were preparing an operating table.
The transport lifted off and turned west while a two thousand year old temple was once again left in silence.
Hong Kong- 6-13-2200 "Hello. This is Nancy Holden reporting from Hong Kong. The UN's decision regarding the Vampire Nation was handed down today. As you can see directly behind me, troops are moving into Hong Kong with the intention of turning it into a police state." Behind Nancy, waves of Gunships and APC's were landing on the streets. Hatches were opening, and troops poured out of them.
"We have here UN Colonel Lionel Brighton. Colonel, what can you tell us about the United Nation's decision?"
"It was decided late last night that Hong Kong would no longer be governed by the Vampire Nation, and we intend to enforce that decision here today. The leadership of the Vampire nation is directly responsible for two terrorist attacks in Hong Kong over the last week, and possibly a third. They have gone into hiding, leaving the city with out any form of government. Until another can be established, we will be the government in Hong Kong. I want to make something very clear here, this is not a war against Vampire's or S.A.P.s as they prefer to be called. This is a police action against the leaders of the Vampire Nation."
"Is that what you really believe, Colonel?"
The Colonel looked at her for a second, like he wasn't quite expecting that question. "Don't you want to know how we plan to enforce the police state, Miss Holden?"
"No." said Nancy. "I want to know if you really believe that this isn't a war against Vampires."
"Look," said the Colonel. "We discussed what we would talk about in this interview, I am not interested in giving my personal opinions on the subject. I have a job to do, and I intend to do it to the best of my ability."
"Well," said Nancy. "If you won't share your opinions, I'll share mine. I think you're full of shit."
Her voice began to deepen.
"I think that the point of this police state is the genocide of the Vampire people."
Her hair began to turn darker and shorten in length.
"And last but not least, I think you have four seconds to live."
The Colonel backed away from her as she reached into her jacket. The changes in her appearance continued, and a second later, she was a he. The Colonel raised his hands up and screamed for help. Mark raised the energy pistol in his hand and opened fire. The Colonel's chest exploded, and gunfire erupted from the rooftops up and down the street. The UN troops were caught out in the open and were cut down in the deadly crossfire.
Mark turned to the camera and said, "The oppression stops here, ladies and gentlemen. We will not be rounded up, we will not be herded into concentration camps, and we will not go quietly into the night! They've murdered John Sansker for trying to protect you, we will not let them take any more. The Vampire Nation is ready for war. To the United Nations I say, if you want Hong Kong, come and get it."
A rocket launched off a building behind him and struck one of the APC's. It exploded in a ball of flame, throwing bodies and punching holes in the buildings nearby. As the fire ball barreled up the street, Mark Trevors smiled and let it wash over him. The screen went blank.
Del Rey, Mexico- Tim Wyatt took a moment from his jack-knife fishing to look out the mouth of the little harbor and watch the sunset. The ocean was turned to a crimson so dark, it was almost black, while the sky was set afire in shades of red and yellow. He could still feel the heat of the day's sun in the rocks beneath his bare feet, and it felt good to his old bones. It was perfect. It would have been perfect anyway, if it wasn't for the persistent barking of that fucking dog.
"Sparky!" he shouted. "Shut the hell up before I come over there and kick you!"
The dog quite barking, for all of twenty-two seconds. Then it took it back up where it had left off. Tim shook his head and went back to his fishing. He leaned down over the tide pool, careful not to let his shadow fall on the water. He sat perfectly still, waiting for a fish to decide it would be safe to come out in the open.
"This is the life." he thought. He had money coming out of his asshole, but could live quite happily without it. He couldn't even remember the last time he had actually had to buy something, excepting toiletries and booze, of course. He pulled his meals out of the ocean every day, and traded fish to his neighbor for vegetables. He didn't have any women complaining about the way he kept house or that he needed to shave the gray stubble covering the lower half of his face. He was happy. It was perfect. Except for the fucking dog, that is.
"Sparky, goddamnit! I can't concentrate if you keep doing that! Shut up!"
The dog persisted, and Tim decided he'd had just about enough. He got up off the rocks and picked up his bucket of fish.
"What in the hell is your problem, ya hair-brain?" The dog began running in circles around a tide pool, barking more urgently now that Tim was coming over. Tim could see what the problem was now. There was a body floating face up in the tide pool. They lived in a community of criminals, a body washing up on the shore was not an unusual occurence. Still, it was more trouble than he wanted in his evening.
Tim made his way down a steep rock to the edge of the tide pool so he could get a better look at the dearly departed and see if it was anyone he knew. The man floating in the pool was naked, and covered with strange tattoos. He didn't look familiar. He was wearing a pair of shackles on his legs, and the way his arms were bent made Tim think that maybe he was handcuffed as well.
Taking care not to fall in, he stepped out onto a rock in the middle of the tide pool and grabbed one of the corpse's arms. He floated it to the edge of the tide pool, and then dragged it up onto the rocks. He wasn't interested in hauling it back to town, but he could at least get the body up out of the tide line so it wasn't washed away before one of the Del Rey boys came to get it. Securing a handhold under each arm, he dragged it up past the rocks and onto the little sand beach.. He dropped it for a moment so he could catch his breath.
By looking at the body, he couldn't be entirely sure of how it had died. It was pretty severely burned all over, and he could see a good sized wound in the corpse's side. It looked like somebody had tried to stitch the wound at some point.
"Help me." said the corpse.
Tim jumped out of his skin and fell back away from the man. Sparky came racing up snarling and snapping at the man who had frightened his master.
"Help." the man said and opened his eyes. "Need help."
Tim was shivering, he couldn't tell whether it was from fear or excitement. "Ok, buddy. Just stay right here. I'm going to go get you some help, ok?"
With Sparky at his heels, he raced toward town.
"Help." muttered the man on the beach, and then he closed his eyes.
The Snake Pit
I welcome all letters and criticisms. Sound off if you got a pair, I want to hear what you think!
No letters this time due to my complete and total lack of patience (sorry B Better and VhD, couldn't wait anymore)
Well, that's another issue, thanks for taking the time to read it. As always, if you liked this story, you might like my others, check them out at my site, Bad Monkey Comics!!!
If you have any comments or curse words, e-mail me at bcampo@hotmail.com I welcome all comments and criticisms, but ask if you are going to tell me I suck, tell me why I suck (yeah, that sounded funny to me too.)
By the way, I will probably print any letters I get next issue, so if you don't want yours printed, let me know.