IN WHICH THE LONG-ABSENT AUTHOR MAKES LAME EXCUSES: Hello lovely people! I'm back! *gets only glares* *vicious glares* Oh come on, it can't have been that long this time! *looks at 'last updated' date on her story* damn, it really was… *wince* Oops. Sorry. I honestly didn't mean to! I just had block for this for ages… (some of you may have noticed the trashy songfics I wrote… alas, I admit it, they were H/A but they helped cure my block… *shudders* it was the keyboard, honestly…) and I needed a little time-out for this fic… (Time-out? TIME OUT? you shriek, WHAT THE HELL IS THE GAP BETWEEN THE CHAPTERS? Well… it takes me ages to write chapters (one of the many downsides to being a perfectionist) and I do think about it mostly every day, even if I don't get a moment to write it. By the way, if you care about 'Not Gonna Get Us' I'm about halfway through the next one, then after that there is one more…) and you get the idea *hangs head and wanders off* I shall stop making excuses now…
TO MY REVIEWERS: *bounces back onto the ff.n stage* you guys have been great once again. I am ten reviews off 200! Woohoo! *briefly wonders why the hell her crappy fic got so many reviews and not all of them being flames, though a high percentage from herself* ah well. *shrug* So anyway, thanks to roz, Pendragon, allie, MyOwnAntagonist (to the random comment: why thank you, thank you very much…), A Friend, Tie Kerl (ah no! not the furbies! Please, not the furbies! On the insanity, it was probably me…), Princess Arwen Evenstar 77, Dslguy14 (I think I said this in a review to you once, but I reckon Holly would have a pretty good knowledge of human weaponry as she's recon and has to deal with it. Also, I think fairies probably have sub-machine guns too, though by now, they have probably been outlawed, etc… And when you gonna update your stories anyway? I'm waiting…), artylover108 (*choke* what? You think THIS is better than TEC? Are you mad, girl? Sorry, shouldn't have asked… ;)), sweetdeath02, Dawningimage, Po-chan (you write the longest reviews I have ever seen… like a whole little story in themselves…), Maiden Genisis, chrysgurl, Ever (Nope, but he's in another one I have planned… *shameless advertising*), SilverButterfly, becca, and EMQU. *turns and stares at the pre-story crap* Frell, this stuff is getting a little out of hand ain't it…
A/N: There's been a change of plan on the chapter thing. There will now be another chapter after this (that one will be called Truth Hurts, not this one) and then there will be an epilogue. So that will be 17 chapters and an epilogue. It's just I didn't want to put the next bit in this chapter 'cos I got to a good place to stop and if I'd have continued it probably would have been another 3 weeks… so enjoy.
*****
A collective gasp of pain and shock rose into the air around the assembled crowd of fairies, captives and captors alike. The worst affected were the goblins – many let their weapons fall to the ground, cradling their aching heads in their hands. The LEP were less stricken – a moment of splitting agony was soon replaced by a dull throbbing sensation. But still bound, by physical if no longer mental means, they were helpless
In the centre of the room, the reactions were rather more extreme. Kobalde had been forced to his knees, joining Captain Short on the floor. His whole face was a mask of pain, eyes tightly shut, white skin drawn into contours and folds. He was shaking violently, shoulders jerking erratically and a small trickle of blood was flowing from one nostril over his lips and down his chin.
Holly wasn't much better. She had folded in half over her bent legs, head resting on the floor, as if to keep it from being split open by some invisible force. Her fists were clenched, bound as they were behind her back, and her mouth was beginning to fill with blood from her bitten lips. Slowly, as the pain began to subside, she eased herself back into a sitting position, wincing as the stabbing sensation gradually lessened.
Surveying the room around her, she tried to catch the eye of one of the officers, to somehow make a plan. All avoided her gaze, going red when they saw her looking at them and quickly turned away. Holly sighed inwardly. Here it was then. The beginning of the end for her career. Providing she was still breathing tomorrow.
Three fairies, however, did not try to ignore her. Commander Root, Captain Kelp and Foaly all seemed to be checking she was alright with their eyes when her vision focused on them. All three smiled at her, trying their best to be reassuring. Holly tried to put a message in her look: What's the plan? What do we do now? but no one seemed to know. Kobalde and his heathen mob were still out of action, but they didn't have long before this was rectified and control was taken once more. Indicating with her head the cable ties that encircled her wrists, Holly mimed pulling her fists apart. Or at least she attempted to.
Root nodded and turning to the other two, began to whisper. Holly saw Trouble reach for something in his pocket, but she didn't see what it was. Root turned back and jerked his head at Kobalde, miming the words 'Distract him'. Holly nodded and slowly got to her feet. She began to wobble unsteadily to the door, breaking into a stumbling run as she went. Kobalde's head shot up and he seemed suddenly to react, drawing the weapon at his hip and flicking the setting down to just below 'stun'. He aimed it at the elf's back and squeezed the trigger.
Holly grunted as the charge ripped through her and felt her legs buckle and fold underneath her, bringing her crashing face-first to the floor. She struggled back up, though without her hands to help her it took several more seconds than she had intended. It was enough time for Kobalde to issue orders to the goblins and before she knew what was happening, she was dragged to her feet and frog-marched back to stand in front of their captor.
Kobalde rose slowly from the floor, looking curiously at her. Holly tried to ignore this and simply poured all her hatred for him into the glare. He didn't seem to notice.
On his feet again, he began slowly to circle her, before coming to rest before her once more. "You tricked me, Holly." he murmured, leaning in closer to inspect her face. She couldn't quite force herself to snarl.
Her eyes registered the red liquid running down his lips. "You're bleeding." she whispered tonelessly.
Kobalde's eyes flashed for a moment, and a look something like triumph shone in his face. He brought a hand to his mouth and came away with it wet with blood. "So I am." he muttered, and his gaze became ever more piercing, digging right into Holly's face. Captain Short felt like she was being dissected bit by bit; he just kept stripping things away to reveal more.
Kobalde cocked his head on one side. "You tricked me." he repeated. The sneer in his look came out in full force. "That was an exceedingly stupid thing to do, Captain Short. I will take a whole new joy in killing you in the slowest and most painful way possible."
Holly pulled herself together enough to growl weakly. She swallowed. "That's what you think." She grinned smugly. "Though mind you, you're not very good at killing me, are you? You've been trying to for most of the evening. Let's see…" She pretended to be thinking about it. "You tried to kill me when I broke out of the ballroom. Didn't even come close. You tried to kill me in the swimming pool. That fell through too. You tried to kill me in the freezer, which, I will say, you did, but evidently you didn't do a very thorough job, as I'm still here." She paused, grinning vindictively at him. "So do excuse me if I fail to take your threat too seriously."
Kobalde's lips split into a delighted smile. "Well, you know what they say, practise makes perfect." Holly shivered, unable to fully conceal the fear she felt. "Best of all, this time the rest of this sorry bunch will be there to watch. An example, if you will. A lesson in the way not to behave, in what happens to those who try to resist me." Kobalde sighed and turned to his minions. "I'm getting rather bored of all this banter. Bring the kit."
It was as the goblins' ears relayed the order to their brains that the counterattack struck.
*****
Foaly, Commander Root and Captain Kelp looked on as Captain Short slowly sat up from her prostrate position on the floor, craning their necks to see if any visible damage had been done. She was possibly their last hope of getting out of this mess – she seemed to be the only one to be able to exert any sort of influence over Kobalde, the only one who could distract him sufficiently. Possibly, also the only one he cared about. Not that they'd be telling her that any time soon.
Holly's eyes flew desperately over the crowd, searching for a friendly face, a fellow conspirator. She was met with rejection everywhere she looked, and the disappointment and sadness were written clearly in her features. Finally her gaze rested on Foaly and he winked at her, grinning from ear to ear. She seemed considerably cheered. She mimed pulling her hands apart. Commander Root, seeing and understanding this, nodded to her and turned to Foaly and Trouble.
"We need to find a way to cut these bonds." he whispered, careful not to alert the groaning thug nearest them. "Has anyone got a knife, or something sharp?"
Awkwardly, Trouble twisted his shoulders until he could reach his pocket and slipped his bound hands inside. After a few seconds they emerged holding a small switchblade.
"Confiscated it on the way here." he explained. Root grinned inspite of himself and turned back to Captain Short.
"Distract him." he mimed. Seeing her nod and begin to get to her feet, he turned hurriedly back to the others. "We need to do this quickly. We're only get one shot, so let's make sure we do it right. Trouble, I want you to spread the word amongst the officers: on my signal, go for the nearest goblin. Disarm first, then disable. Knock them out only. I don't want a body count at the end of this. Use the knife to free as many as possible. Find those with knives and get them doing it too." He manoeuvred his own hands so that Trouble, who was by now untied, could cut his bonds. "Foaly, I need you to spread the message to the civilians: when you see the officers move, break and take cover. Get out of the room, get out of the building and don't look back or hesitate. As soon as you can, contact HQ and get a team down here with plenty of firepower and plenty of men. We'll hold them off until you've gone, then split up and scatter through the manor. Concentrate on getting the Council out first. If they go down, we're in big trouble." He grinned at Captain Kelp. "Pardon the pun. Now move. Good luck."
Trouble paused for a second. "What about Kobalde?"
Root grinned, and there was something scary in it. "Oh, don't you worry about him. I'm sure Captain Short and myself can take care of him."
The captain smirked back, before moving towards the nearest officers, while Foaly edged over to a small knot of civilians, their messages spreading faster than wildfire through the fairies. Root stayed where he was, watching carefully as Holly came crashing to the ballroom floor and was dragged back to Kobalde by a couple of goblins who seemed better off than the others. As he watched, Root saw something strange: instead of issuing his orders directly into his minions' heads, The Eye was using voice command. The orders were met with slight delay every time, as though the grunts were hearing them, then deciding whether or not to follow them. The indecision lasted for a mere second only, but it was definitely there. Root guessed correctly that the little stunt Holly had pulled off in her head had had farther reaching consequences than one would at first have thought. At another guess, that his mind-controlling powers had been severely damaged. Though what good this did them, heaven knew.
The commander watched as his officer traded insults and threats with her tormentor. She was struggling to continue fighting and keep the more negative side of her feelings for him out in the open. She had already slipped once, and against his will, Root felt her embarrassment, her shame. She didn't want this, anyone could see that. Tough nuggets, his mind snapped, she's all that's left in the way of hope. If she gets knocked about a bit on the way, that's her problem. Root shook himself. He needed to watch for weaknesses.
The banter that had been buzzing between them seemed to be running to a stop. The commander tensed, looking around him to check everyone was in position. They were all watching him out of the corners of their eyes, ready to go. Root nodded slightly to warn them, then behind his back, held out his hand, fingers splayed. He slowly began to bend each finger down – five, four, three, two, one – then with a shout of "Now!" he swept his hand out before him. The signal to go. Grinning almost viciously, the officers of the LEP jumped to their feet and rushed at the nearest goblins.
*****
The ballroom was in chaos. Everywhere you looked, unarmed LEP officers were tackling and grappling with goblins, some still with their hands behind their backs. If times had not been so serious, The Eye would have rolled his eyes. Not a single one of them had drawn its weapon.
"Shoot them!" he roared over the din. "Use the guns!"
The goblins stared at him for a few seconds, then fumbled in their holsters. Meanwhile, civilians were streaming from the doors, pushing and shoving to get through. Kobalde did what he could with his own gun, but staying on the run to avoid bursts from the few LEP members who had managed to secure weaponry threw all his attempts at aiming right off, and he hit nothing. Holly had melted into the crowd and was nowhere to be seen. Kobalde cursed. It would seem his toy had gone missing. Well, she would be found. To use a cliché, she could run but she could not hide.
Foaly had stationed himself next to the double doors and was trying to get as many people through as possible without causing a crush. At least the Council was clear now, that was one less thing to worry about. Hysteria was spreading through the crowd as the laser blasts flew overhead and the centaur was finding it harder and harder to keep the people calm. He had never been a social sort of creature. The numbers were gradually thinning though, and he could see the back of the crowd at last. They might make it after all…
Trouble Kelp was up to his neck in the conflict. He had helped take out three goblins already, and recognising him as some sort of leader, four of the scaly beings had launched themselves at him. It seemed that at close quarters, goblins were much more comfortable using teeth and claws than sophisticated firearms. Captain Kelp winced as one such claw slashed his cheek. Another scar for the collection. He slapped the goblin open-handed, sending it spinning round and lunged for its weapon as it staggered. Flicking the setting down, he let rip.
Commander Root had seen Holly slip into the crowd when Kobalde's attention had been drawn momentarily elsewhere and started after her. She was threading her way through the heaving mass, working her way behind Kobalde, near to a door. When Root finally caught up with her, he was rather out of breath to say the least. That girl could move fast when she needed to.
"Captain." he managed to gasp, catching hold of her arm. Holly spun, then seeing who it was, grinned.
"Wondered when you'd show up. You and me against Kobalde?" Root nodded and something very like vindictive triumph gleamed in Holly's face. "Do you have a plan?"
"Of sorts. Knock him out and lock him up pretty much covers it."
"Sounds good to me."
"Thought it would. Not here though. We have to lure him away. You up to it?"
Doubt flickered across her face for a second. "Of course." she said, in a voice she hoped was steady and even. "Where do we meet?"
"I'll go through the east doors just ahead of you. You get him to follow you into the connecting corridor on the left and we'll ambush from there."
"Got it." She turned and began to push her way back towards Basil.
"Good luck!" Root called after her. Although she didn't turn, he could imagine the look on her face. Basil Kobalde was going to wish he'd never been born when she was finished with him.
The All-Seeing-Eye was desperately trying to keep the situation under control. He had lost at least half of his hostages, a good tenth of his army were already out of action and the whole cursed thing was getting worse by the second. He roared orders over the din, but only the goblins closest to him heard, and even then, most ignored him, content simply to rip and tear any LEP flesh that came within two metres.
Suddenly, he caught sight of Captain Short and a vicious grin spread over his face. "Gotcha." he muttered.
"Round them all up." he yelled over the crowd. "Get them back in here like before, But leave the girl. She's mine." He tried to put some pressure on their minds, but that part of him was too numb and shocked to respond yet. He didn't know when it would recover, or if it would recover at all. Deciding all he could do in the ballroom had been done, he quickly turned and hurried after the fast retreating form of Captain Short, adjusting the setting on his weapon as he went.
Holly had carefully positioned herself in plain view of Kobalde, before pretending to flee for the exit. She turned once to check he had seen and saw him starting after her, pistol drawn and murderous gleam in his eyes. She shivered and ran a little faster. Not too fast, she chided herself, let him catch up. Don't lose him now. She saw Root clear the doors ahead of her and gritted her teeth. This is it Short, she told herself. Don't screw it up.
*****
Oops, did it again. *evil grin* cliffy… hope you liked that chapter. It was quite a bit shorter than they have generally started to be, but not too short I hope. Hope it wasn't too shite…
I will update this as soon as I can, but that may be in at least 3 weeks. You see, I am going to Devon for three weeks in two days (no channel five – I'll miss CSI *sob* - no internet, no anything within twenty miles… unless you count the Quay…) and I won't be able to update there. If it come to that I should do writing down there, but it will be onto paper and my writing frankly stinks on paper. Ah well. It's either that or before this Friday (the 1st of Aug.) and as I am on holiday now (finally!) it's possible but I really have to do my three oh-so-lovely science investigations before I go… so who knows. It will come, but it may be a little bit of a wait… Then again, you'll have plenty to read in summer… everyone updating like mad… READ 'THE DAWN OF CHANGE' BY RED MOON KREE! HELP ME PUT PRESSURE ON THE AUTHOR TO BLOODY WELL UPDATE!!! *sob* it's been forever…
*sings most tunefully to something which sounds like a mixture of several Evanescence songs* review, oh review, my darlings, review and REVIEW SOME MORE!
Luv slime xxx