-Chapter 5: Justified Boundaries-
Sharon looked at the documentaries involving the Gear's attacks on humans. The demon the possessed Eddie was not mentioned a single time in the summary. Damn! Tossing the paper onto her desk, she sighed. Rubbing her temples with both hands, she groaned a bit, then returned to work.
"You've got to be in here, somewhere," she murmured as she continued to sift through the documents. Finally! A report covering the sight of what appeared to be Venom dragging a dead Zato into…what was that anyway? A forest? Sharon squinted some to examine the poorly detailed photograph. It was Venom and Zato!!
"Aha! You aren't as slippery as I thought! Slayer was right! You were up to something the whole time!" she accused before taking the photo in hand and dashing out of her personal office, into the hallway, and toward Slayer's office.
"Slayer! Honey! Look!" she panted as she stopped inside of his office. Slayer stopped admiring the portrait of himself and Sharon a moment to turn and look at Sharon.
"Yes? What is it?" he calmly asked. Sharon walked briskly toward his desk, and set the document in front of him.
"Take a look at this," she said. Slayer did so, at first examining the photograph, then looking over the report. So Venom had been planning this all along! How dare he! Slayer had told him to dump the body a few feet from the manor, yet Venom did otherwise and brought him to this…this forsaken place, which had reeked of death?!
"Thank you, Sharon…I will take care of the both of them myself….and this time, Zato and Venom will stay dead. I will make sure of it."
-
Sol Badguy sat upon a rather large stone, silently watching the water from the river rush by. The fireseal was dug into the ground beside him, silent as well. His intense, fiery brown eyes kept up with the raging flow as it went, and he watched the silent chaos within it. Though he seemed to be concentrating deeply, in truth, he was simply keeping track of the hours…by his own methods, of course. So far, it had been roughly four hours, and he still felt no need to hunt down Testament yet. His intuition would let him know when the time would be right, thus until then, he remained upon the stone.
"Are you the Gear Hunter? If so, I would like to request your service," a voice said. Sol did not move.
"The pay would be to your liking, I think," the voice continued. Sol still did nothing.
"I don't do other people's dirty work for 'em," he finally said, turning his head slightly. "You want a Gear dead? Do it yourself."
"Oh…this one is not a Gear…more or less a parasite, but not a Gear, I assure you." Sol scoffed, and finally looked at the owner of the voice. A female…slender…impish….what the hell would someone like this be doing in a dank, dead forest?!
"Then what is it?" he asked. The woman bit her lip only once before responding.
"I don't know…but it looks human. It took the life of a man named Zato, though."
"Zato?! Why would you want him dead?" Sol asked, a suspicion of the seemingly innocent woman growing over him. The woman sighed.
"He killed someone dear to me," the woman said sadly. "I don't know if you knew this or not…but Zato is a very bad person, possessed by a parasite or not."
"What the—you're not makin' sense, woman! If Zato killed somebody, I would've smelled blood on him a long time ago!!" Sol barked, gripping the fireseal almost instinctively. The woman saw this, and swallowed hard.
"W-well…you see, he's dead—well, not anymore—."
"How the hell did you know that?!" Sol asked. The woman began to wring her hands.
"Um…"
THUNK!
Sol collapsed on the ground with a 'thud' almost instantly, groaning faintly. Behind him stood Slayer, chuckling amusedly.
"Because I followed his scent, that's how," he said, chuckling a bit more. Sharon exhaled gratefully, bowing thankfully to her husband. Slayer, in return, sighed.
"Sharon, my dear, you must think more clearly…had I not come in time, this heathen here could have harmed you.." he said with a sigh before stepping over Sol's unconscious body.
"Now, we should continue before he wakes…which should be within the hour or so. It seems that we are on the right track however…Zato's scent grows more keen in this direction," Slayer continued as the two meandered through the dark forest.
-
Ky Kiske sighed as he spun around idly within his chair. It had been weeks nearly since he'd not seen Sol. Staring at his watch as though it would rewind and bring Sol back, Ky chewed on his lower lip a moment before looking out of the window.
"Nn….where are you?" he mused aloud, propping his head up with a fist upon the arm of his chair.
"Sir Kiske, we have reports of strange activity in a remote forest located not too far from a local camp site. The witnesses report to have seen odd weather activity in addition to seeing explosions in the air, above the forest. This sound like a case to you, or what?" an officer asked as he threw a newspaper onto Ky's desk. Ky looked at it dismissively, but then took further notice as, within the photograph, some of those flames were reminiscent of those that would be dispelled by the fireseal! And fireseal almost always meant Sol! Taking his thunderseal in hand from underneath his desk, Ky nodded graciously.
"Of course…but don't worry. I can handle this case on my own…" he said with a smirk, looking back down at the paper briefly.
-
Sol rubbed the back of his head as he managed to stand again.
"The…fuck…was that all about?" he groaned as he continued to rub the back of his head irritably. He was slowly remembering a woman….laughter…SLAYER!
"That son-of-a-bitch!" he cursed as he gritted his teeth. "I KNEW that Gear should have let me tear him apart!" he growled fiercely as he gripped fireseal angrily and pulled it out of the earth.
"I'll tear you to pieces!!" Sol promised as he started to chase after the vampire, but again, was halted by another voice.
"Your hunting prowess has dulled.." Testament murmured as he stood a few feet to Sol's side, his arms folded, and the demonic raven perched upon his shoulder, seeming to mock Sol as well. Sol scoffed.
"Whatever. The vampire guy came back…and this time, I don't think he plans on going anywhere…" he said. Testament shook his head.
"Dizzy is far too forgiving…I suppose we will have to kill him ourselves.." he murmured. Sol's brow quirked gently.
" 'We'? Heh. 'Ourselves'?" he said. Testament said nothing in reply a moment, then looked at the raven perched upon his shoulder.
"Yes…Gear Hunter…'we'…" he repeated slowly. Sol grinned.
"Well, in that case, let's be on our way," Sol said, allowing Testament to lead the way, and tail beside him.
"So, have you decided?" Sol asked in a bit of anticipation. Testament looked at him out of the corner of his eye, but nothing was said as he continued walking. Sol snorted.
"Well?" he again tried for an answer. Testament slowed slightly in his gait, then finally stopped. Looking Sol in the eye, with a blank expression scrawled upon his face, Testament responded honestly.
"I've taken your words into consideration. That is all," he said bluntly. Sol smirked.
"Hey, it's better than nothing," he said. Testament said nothing, and continued walking.
"The vampire is close…I can feel him," Testament said lowly. Sol nodded.
"Yeah. Could be an ambush…it's not like he wouldn't try that.." Sol muttered, in slight reference to the incident beforehand. Testament chuckled faintly.
"Maybe that simply shows that you should work on your ego."
Sol snorted and looked at the path ahead of them.
"Yeah, whatever," he said, shrugging the comment off. Testament began to laugh now. It was dark…haunting…but it somehow amused Sol, who was beginning to chuckle faintly.
"What's so funny?" Sol asked. Testament shook his head after he regained himself.
"Nothing…other than the fact that your soul is easily offended…" Testament said. Sol rolled his shoulders a bit.
"Well, hell, what can I say? I take offense easily."
Testament shook his head again.
"Then you will always fail," he said. Sol smirked and looked at him.
"Really..?" he asked. Testament smirked slightly as he closed his eyes and nodded.
"Yes.."
"Then," Sol began as he stopped the both of them; first by his taking hold of Testament's arm and stopping him directly, then by his stopping in his tracks to look at Testament with that same smirk. "If I'm such a failure, why haven't you killed me yet? I thought you despised humans?" Sol asked with a bit of a daring tone as leaned in a bit. Testament leaned back along with him, seeming to avoid contact.
"You're not human…but that does not mean I never despised you to begin with," he said. Sol grinned, pulling Testament's arm forward a little, and momentarily took advantage of the sudden jerk forward by seizing his death-kissed lips with his own. In the brief moment, Testament would have been quick to summon his scythe and decapitate the daring Sol, but, by the element of surprise, and its being unsuspected by Testament, Sol had a strategically perfect advantage—hence the reason he'd spent so much time talking, as to time his move precisely—which he did, and the following action followed through as smoothly as he'd expected it. In the moments that followed after Sol let Testament go, with that same smirk plastered upon his face, Testament could vaguely feel his humanity seeping through the cracks of the Gear's surface. Shoving them back where they rightfully belonged, he found this harder to do than before. As Sol chuckled at Testament's silent reaction, Testament said nothing, and continued along the path, far more silent than before. Sol grinned even more.
"Still hate me?" he chuckled. Testament said nothing in return.
-
Zato looked at the manor as he and Venom now approached it. To Venom, it was the same, but to Zato…it was far, far more decadent and desolate-looking than before. Venom seemed to sense this, and spoke his mind.
"How do you feel, being here again after so long?" He asked. Zato smiled a bit, and continued toward the manor. After entering through the doorway, Zato inhaled and exhaled greatly before responding.
"…Like a renewed child…" he said, finally. Venom smiled warmly, and walked ahead of Zato, as if to lead him. Zato took hint and followed Venom through the main hall, continuing until Venom stopped at the throne that had not seen its Master for so many, many years.
"Other than myself, dear master Zato, this throne has missed your presence for the longest of times."
Zato sighed gently, and looked at his throne. Indeed, it had been quite some time, since he sat there. Back then, it was a simple matter of giving orders and aiding fellow assassins in their work…but now..the throne looked different…how….Zato, couldn't exactly place it..
"While I was gone…who was my successor?" he asked. Venom smiled a bit more, and placed a hand on the arm of the throne as he approached it, looking it over almost fondly.
"I was your successor, master Zato," he said gently, almost in a whisper. Zato
still caught those words, and approached Venom. Standing beside him, Zato
placed a hand over that of Venom's, and entwined their fingers upon the arm of
the throne.
"And I would only accept you as my successor…in place of my absence, Venom," Zato said, releasing their entwined grip a moment before walking around the throne, where he noticed a large coffin that should have once been suspended in chains and multiple locks.
"Slayer is still alive..?" he whispered…more of a question to himself than to Venom.
Venom looked down a moment.
"Has he reformed?" Zato asked. "Has he changed his heart?"
"No…it seems to grow colder by the day," Venom said, almost sadly. "And what is worse…is that he is dragging Sharon into his game of dominance. He manipulates her feelings to his own will…though he acts otherwise, as so she will believe him."
Zato nodded, sighing as he twirled the lock in between his fingers.
"Well then…we will have to either cure his heart…or destroy him…for I feel he has not gone to Transylvania as he has had us to believe..he is far too power-hungry to do that…"
Venom nodded.
"What are you going to do?" Venom asked. Zato shook his head.
"Revert to my old ways of killing, if it will mean defeating Slayer," he said. Venom nodded.
"Understood…but…shouldn't we alert the others that Slayer is not to be allowed here?" Venom asked. Zato shook his head.
"No..that's what he wants us to do. Instead, we will show the others who is real..and who is fake. Though I was resurrected…this time…I will make everything right," Zato swore, gripping the lock in his hand.
"For us, Venom…and for the Guild."
-
Bridget smacked Johnny in the head with his yo-yo yet again as he tried to teach the both of them the "Shoot the Moon" trick.
"AH! Dammit, Bridget! That yo-yo hurts!" Johnny cursed, rubbing his forehead. Bridget clasped a hand over his mouth as he laughed almost uncontrollably.
"It's not my fault you can't yo-yo!" he giggled. Johnny growled a bit, then finally threw the yo-yo across the deck.
"I give up. I'm gonna go get drunk and go find that pretty lady that gives me free doughnuts.." Johnny muttered as he walked off. Bridget whimpered a bit before looking at May, who was still attempting the same trick, only she was hitting the other crewmembers instead of her own forehead, as done before.
"Is Johnny mad again?" Bridget asked sadly. May shook her head as she still attempted the trick.
"Johnny gets frustrated when he can't do something and he's tried a bazillion times," May said as she smacked another crewmember with the yo-yo.
"Sorry! Um…heh…as I was saying, Johnny just needs a break before you try and teach him that again…have you tried teaching him other stuff?" May asked. Bridget shook his head.
"No. He wanted to learn the hardest trick first, so I let him try."
"No, no, no—what you have to do is tell him that the easiest trick you have is the hardest trick, you got it?" May said with a smile. Bridget blinked.
"No. How can an easy trick be hard?" he asked. May sighed.
"It's already easy, Bridge, but you tell him it's hard. Got it?"
Bridget blinked some.
"But that's lying! I don't wanna lie to Johnny!" he wailed. May ran a hand over her face.
"If you want Johnny to be happy, you should do it. What Johnny doesn't know can't hurt him," she said. Bridget wearily nodded.
"Okay, May," he said. Just as Bridget followed Johnny's footsteps, Dizzy intercepted them.
"Hi there, Bridge. What're you up to?" she asked. Bridget beamed quite happily.
"I'm gonna go teach Johnny one of the hardest tricks to do with a yo-yo!" he announced happily. Dizzy giggled in return.
"Ha ha…good luck, Bridget," she said, ruffling his mess of blonde underneath his headdress. As Bridget bounced away happily with a singsong tone on his lips, Dizzy approached May, who still was flinging the yo-yo about, hitting crewmembers here and there.
"May…I think we might have to go down there…to the forest…I think something bad is about to happen," she said quietly.
"Eh?" May said as she stopping throwing the yo-yo about. "Like what?"
"I don't know," Dizzy said. "But whatever it is…everyone will need our help."
-End Ch 5-
