THE CLIMATIC FINALE TO SEASON ONE!
"For you, my friend, they are the angels of death."
-Man against monster. Monster against self. The story is as old as time. Living above us, below us, and among us, they assimilate themselves into our culture, and us into theirs. To the common man, they are simply known as night terrors, but to the initiated, they are the Darkstalkers-
EPISODE THIRTEEN: DREAM WITH A PRICE
Midniiiiight. Not a sound from the pavement. Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alooooooone. In the laaaaaamplight withered leaves collect at my feet. And the wiiiiiiind begins to blow
As the spotlight began to focus on her, Felicia looked out upon her countless adoring fans, smiling dreamily. This was her night to shine. Her feline soprano voice had brought her to Broadway, and now, she was a star.
She awoke and groaned, but smiled as she turned to see her other ambition in life was lying right beside her, his strong jaw stubbly from forgetting to shave yesterday.
Felicia purred and softly stroked her delicate claw along his cheekbones, knowing his skin was tough enough that it wouldn't even make a dent in him, "I love you."
Talbain murmured in his sleep, but nuzzled his head closer to her touch and smiled, letting her know how much he really loved her deep down. Even if she never made it to musical stardom, being in love, and loved back, was enough for anyone.
It was sunrise and Felicia was taking her morning jog to warm up her legs. She couldn't figure out why Jon insisted on training alone at night when the days in California were so heavenly. He always slept through sunrise.
She had her long blue hair up in a fancy do that went over her shoulders as well, her stellar appearance only detracted by her choice of clothing: a gray pullover and a pair of off-white running shorts.
She was running along the coast. There were a lot of interesting folk along the Oceanside, she had to admit. Homeless beach bums, stoned out surfers, and would-be thugs with Mohawks (hey, this is the 80's!) and leather jackets just to name a few.
As she was about to go under her favorite pretty bridge she saw the most interesting character of them all. He was tall, about 6 feet, and slim like a guy who had maybe had a little too much fun in his day. His face would have been young and handsome if it didn't seem to be holding the weight of ages. Felicia guessed he was maybe a thirty-something heroine addict. His skin was pale enough that he could have been on heroine, and his hair was violet while his eyes seemed sunken and glazed.
Felicia had some time to kill and her kitty curiosity was getting the better of her, so she walked up to the stranger. She almost regretted it instantly: his disheveled hair and large brown coat smelled horribly of ale and god knows what else. Wincing a bit, she asked what she was thinking, "Okay, why purple?"
The man, assuming that's what he was, leaned over with a wide, menacing grin, towering over her, and chuckled in a deep Aussie tone, "Why blue while we're at it?"
Felicia flushed: he had a point, "Do you come here often?"
The figure leaned back against the bridge, the shadows half hiding his face except for his eyes, which seemed to take on a red glow, "Me trade takes me out on tours e'lat, so lez jest sayz I get around, eh Kitty?"
Felicia went blue in the face for a second, "And what exactly is your trade Sir?"
The man stepped forward, now sporting a battle-axe guitar and a hilariously cheesy grin, "I play tha strings! Name's Zabel Zarock, maychance ye've hearda me?"
Felicia quirked a brow, "A rock star eh?"
Zabel signed her the archetypical "Metal Devil Horns" and flashed another shit-eating grin, "You've got it baby! I've played Sydney and London, but now I've got this idea I'll be playin' in Vegas. Rock opera style!"
Felicia laughed merrily, "Yeah, you could play and I could sing!"
Zabel leaned in beside her and grinned, "Ye sing now do ye Kitty?"
Felicia nodded, "Uh huh! The name is Felicia and someday I'll light up Vegas myself with my rendition of Memory. You know, the song from Cats."
The funny man plopped down on the outer railing of a bridge column and grinned, "Alright then Mizz Felicia, lez hear ya wail."
Felicia nodded, taking her best posture, and closed her eyes,
Every streeet lamp, seems to beat a fatalistic warning. Someone mutters, and the street lamp gutters, and soon it will be mooooorning
Felicia looked up, her eyes sparkling as her face beamed with a radiant smile. She looked to the man, "Well, did you like it?"
Zabel was all teary-eyed, "That wuz bea-oo-tiful. We gotta get you onstage."
Felicia flushed, "I wish. I've made one cd but I haven't had the time to tour and my agent has had to let me go so I'm not getting gigs anymore."
No sooner had she said it than Zabel sprang into the air from his seat, did a 180 flip in mid-air, and landed with his back turned while grinning, "I think I failed t' mention this, but I was pretty well received by the UK so I've got somethin' of a following. I could get ya a 'gig' tomorrow if yer up to it."
Felicia's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!" she shrieked excitedly.
Zabel's grin only widened. He had his diva now.
Talbain looked at the crumpled, smelly paper, "Are you sure this is the place?"
Felicia glanced to him, "Is it the address on the paper Jon?"
Talbain nodded slowly, "Yeah but it doesn't look like it's been used in ages."
He wasn't kidding. They now stood in front of a large office-like building that appeared to be a tad in need of repair, or so it appeared from where they stood.
Just then Zabel ran up behind them, a taxi honking rudely at him for dashing across the street, "Hey Felice'! All set for tha show? Who's the guy?"
Felicia gave him a sunny smile, "This is my boyfriend Jon. He ran a martial arts dojo back in England so maybe you guys have met. Jon, this is Zabel."
Zabel smiled quaintly, "Your girlfriend 'as a lovely voice."
Talbain nodded, eyes narrowed, "Yes, she certainly does." He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this guy didn't smell right, and it wasn't his BO.
Zabel looked to Felicia, "We should get you to the dressing room. This building may look frail, but in a few it's gonna be holdin' over two hundred souls."
They walked inside together. Jon followed them through the side doors and started to follow them down a hall, but Zabel stopped him, "Sorry mate, but the dressing room's for the stars only. If ye wait in the auditorium I can promise a good seat though."
Jon nodded slowly, "Oh? I'll do that."
Zabel turned to follow Felicia, who was already headed down the hall, but stopped, smiling slyly over his shoulder, "Heard about your students out in the country by the way. My sympathies for the damage to the place." He kept on walking.
Talbain's face was murder.
Felicia sat in the back of the dressing room, brushing her hair. A gothy girl was applying make-up to her skin and a soft dye to make her fur a more vibrant white than usual. About that time, Zabel walked in, throwing off his jacket.
Underneath he had on an interesting, yet vaguely familiar, outfit. It consisted of black jeans with a spiked leg cuff and a Union Jack over one leg and deep brown leather boots at the bottom. The pants were held in place at the top by a black spiked leather belt and he wore black fingerless leather gloves. Other than that he was without clothing.
Zabel snapped his fingers, "Amityvilla, go help Arachnia with the girl. I want her all prettied up in five so she can open for us."
A blonde girl in a kinky black leather suit stopped polishing Zabel's coat and rushed over to Felicia, "Sure thing Mr. Z."
Felicia blinked as the girl did her nails. She had never even heard of this guy, but these two were making over him like he was the literal god of heavy metal. Then again, she had never been that into the heavier stuff. She stuck to opera and show tunes.
Finally, after about four minutes, she was all dolled up and stood before Zabel. He clapped his hands together, "Perfect, you look like a star, and since this is your first major gig in Cali I'm guessin, lemme give you a tip from an ol' pro."
Felicia would have laughed at him five minutes earlier, but that was before she saw him command respect like few artists she had ever met, "I'm listening."
Zabel leaned in and whispered, "If you want to make it big, you'll have to make a lot of sacrifices. This biz ain't about talent and it ain't about livin' a dream: it's about making bread money and keepin' a fanbase at all costs, got it?"
Felicia's eyes lowered, "I don't think I can sacrifice everything."
Zabel was taken aback, "An' why not? You've got the voice!"
Felicia looked up at him all teary eyed, "What about Jon?"
Zabel smiled slowly, "Dun worry about it right now: you'll have plenty of time to think about it after tonight cuz I've booked you on a brand new tour."
Felicia didn't know whether to be overjoyed or devastated.
Zabel sensed her dilemma, "Theeeeere now, dun be like that Kitty. This is your dream. You wanted to be a star and now you'll be the brightest star of all. Ye think I didn't make sacrifices to get where I'm at? Come see here."
Felicia followed him as he walked in front of the mirror. She barely held herself back from screaming at what she saw: a skeletal corpse had replaced Zabel's image in the mirror. It wore the same clothes as him, but it's hair was spiky and its eyes red.
Zabel turned her face to his, "See? Sacrifices. Now stop crying fer God's sake, you'll make the mascara run down yer cheeks. Best of luck."
It was showtime.
Zabel hadn't exaggerated: the auditorium was packed. Somewhere near the front of the crowd Talbain stood waiting for the show to begin.
Felicia was watching them all stand there in darkness from backstage and her nerve was faltering. Singing for a cd was a hell of a lot different than performing in front of hundreds of people live and in person.
Zabel walked past her. He was quite literally dressed to kill in a satin-colored 'ringmaster' type suit with a top hat to match. He tilted the top hat down, forcing his long scraggly hair further down his neck, and grinned to the crowd.
His eyes glowed redder under the shadow of the hat, "What's up all you freaks and babes!" The crowd cheered wildly, some beer spraying in the air and he was feeling more confident than ever, "Alright now, I know somma ya love the opera, and somma ya hate its guts, but tonight we got somethin' that rockers and geezers alike should dig. For her first performance in Pasadena, singing a rock opera rendition've Memory, I give you the nine- lived wonder of the world, Felicia!"
Most of the crowd wasn't too sure about this so Felicia got a real silent walk-on, and the blue spotlight focused on her as she closed her eyes and began to mew the words:
Meeeeeeemory. All alone in the moonliiiiiight. I can smile at the old daaaaays. I was beautiful then. I remeeeeember the time I knew what happiness waaaas. Let the memory live agaaaaaaaain
The guitar was playing the accompaniment with a steady, slow drumbeat as she continued, her eyes closing tighter as she gripped the mic and sweated the words:
Dayliiiiight! I must wait for the sunriiiiiiise! I must think of a new liiiiiife and I mustn't give iiiin! When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory tooooo and a new daaaaay will begin!
She held the note for what seemed like an eternity before she finally had to let it all go and the music slowed to a halt. The crowd was silent for a long moment, and then erupted into thunderous cheers. It was new. It was different. It kicked ass.
That night after the show, Felicia and Zabel sat in the dressing room. Zabel was counting up the money when Felicia slowly stood up and walked to the door.
"Where ya goin? We've got practice tonight Felicia", Zabel reminded her.
Felicia turned around, her eyes stained with tears, "No, we don't Zabel. I've thought about what you said and I guess I'm just not ready for this. Goodbye."
Zabel's eyes burned with rage as he leapt up from where he sat, tackling her and pinning her against a wall, his foul breath down her neck, "You listen to me Kit Kat: I didn't just set you up so you could live out some girlish fantasy. I upheld my end of a DEAL, and now you'll uphold your end, got it?"
A sharp hand snatched Zabel by the neck and threw him across the room, crashing him against a mirror and shattering him through it.
Talbain narrowed his eyes, "If it's not on paper it's not even legal."
Zabel slowly pulled himself to his feet, "You again. Didn't you learn anything when I had yer ass trapped six feet under an' there wuz nothin' ya could do about it?"
Talbain stanced, "Yeah, you had the home field advantage that time bony. This go around, I'm gonna rend you limb from disgusting limb until you're nothing but a 'shell' of your former self for what I just saw you do to my girl."
Zabel cracked his knuckles, "A'ight then 'furry', lez see if ya can."
A shatter of glass sounded as two hulking fighters hurled each other through a window into the streets outside. Talbain stood up, now a werewolf. Zabel stood up, now the demonic ghoul known as Lord Raptor. Both charged each other with a shout.
At the moment of pre-impact, Raptor randomly slid into a kick to his opponent's knee, "Psyche! Heheheh!" The wolf was on his back and Raptor sprinted into the nearest building to await his prey: the 12th Street Mall.
Talbain ran in, snarling up a storm, "GET OUT HERE!"
A maniacal laughter echoed through the empty mall, which resembled a scene from Dawn of the Dead, "Aincha never played hide and seek Fur-ass? Tell ya what, I'll make the game one step easier and count for you. One."
Talbain's lupine ears perked as he heard a pattering of feet from in front of the Gizmos Galore shop on the second floor.
"Two."
As he ran up the escalator it turned on and started going down. What rotten luck! Good thing people are faster than slow-moving conveyor belts. He made it to the top.
"Three."
He skidded to a stop in front of the store and looked around, his eyes prying into the darkest corners for any strange movement.
"Four."
Just then he heard a buzzing. It wasn't coming from around him though. Somehow, the electric buzzing was coming from under the floor!
"FIVE!"
The buzzsaw blade dove upward through the ground, digging into Talbain's hind paw and severely wounding it. He staggered back and sunk to one knee, "Damn you."
Raptor dove up next, saw in hand, and landed in front of his victim with a maniacal grin, "That'd be a bit redundant, now wouldn't it mate?"
In his arrogance, Raptor missed a key movement on Talbain's part: during his 'fall' he had purposely positioned himself so that Raptor was between his body and the rail around the balcony that was the edge of the second level of the mall.
"Ready or not, you stupid son of a bitch", Talbain grinned, hurling himself at Raptor in a Beast Cannon and knocking him over the rail.
Talbain was leaned against the rail and breathing hard, his eyes closed as he tried to compensate for the blood he had just lost.
Felicia ran into the mall and screamed, "Jon watch out!"
Talbain looked in the direction she was pointing to see Raptor 'climbing' the balcony with his arms alone. Who knew such frail looking limbs had so much power.
The skeletal creep hurled himself from the balcony like an ape on steroids and clung to a grip in the ceiling, then flung himself so he was standing behind Talbain.
Talbain turned, slowly stancing, "Not over yet."
Felicia had seen enough. She sprang from her hind legs in an inhuman jump onto the balcony itself, landing in a crouch between the two fighters and standing. She looked to Zabel and glared, "You're not as bad as you think you, Zabel Zarock."
Raptor blinked, "Beg yer pardon?"
Felicia's face remained tough but understanding, "You puff yourself up into this ugly monster so people will be afraid of you, but I'm not intimidated. I can still see that man who I sang to under the bridge. You know, you can talk all you want about giving everything for a goal in life, but while you've given away your body, you still have a soul somewhere in there and it will take more than some bad choices to destroy that."
Talbain tried to reach out for her, "Felicia, stop: he's just a raging monster."
Felicia shook her head and walked forward, "I don't believe that. I believe he's a man with a nasty past and an even nastier future if he doesn't clean up his act. Zabel Zarock, it's time to wake up!" With that, she slapped him across the face.
She slowly turned to Talbain and walked over, holding him up. As a tear fell down her face, she closed her eyes and let her voice pour over him:
Toooouch me. It's so easy to leeeeeave me. All alone with the meeeeemory of my days in the suuuun. If you touch me you'll understand what happiness iiiiiiis. Look, a new daaaaay has beguuuuun
Talbain stood, holding her. His foot had healed completely.
Zabel, his head turned to the side, was too stunned to move. It wasn't the pain from the slap that was holding him back: it was the sting of those words. What did she mean? What sort of future was there for a guy like him anyway? His mind swimming with questions, he gripped at his head and screamed, disappearing in a shower of sparks, not dying, but not to be seen again for some time.
Talbain looked to her, "You're going to make it big some day with a voice like that. You know that right Felicia?"
Felicia just smiled: finally, some constructive criticism.
DARKSTALKERS: THE SERIES WRITEEN BY REGIS A WELCH DARKSTALKERS © 2004 CAPCOM
"For you, my friend, they are the angels of death."
-Man against monster. Monster against self. The story is as old as time. Living above us, below us, and among us, they assimilate themselves into our culture, and us into theirs. To the common man, they are simply known as night terrors, but to the initiated, they are the Darkstalkers-
EPISODE THIRTEEN: DREAM WITH A PRICE
Midniiiiight. Not a sound from the pavement. Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alooooooone. In the laaaaaamplight withered leaves collect at my feet. And the wiiiiiiind begins to blow
As the spotlight began to focus on her, Felicia looked out upon her countless adoring fans, smiling dreamily. This was her night to shine. Her feline soprano voice had brought her to Broadway, and now, she was a star.
She awoke and groaned, but smiled as she turned to see her other ambition in life was lying right beside her, his strong jaw stubbly from forgetting to shave yesterday.
Felicia purred and softly stroked her delicate claw along his cheekbones, knowing his skin was tough enough that it wouldn't even make a dent in him, "I love you."
Talbain murmured in his sleep, but nuzzled his head closer to her touch and smiled, letting her know how much he really loved her deep down. Even if she never made it to musical stardom, being in love, and loved back, was enough for anyone.
It was sunrise and Felicia was taking her morning jog to warm up her legs. She couldn't figure out why Jon insisted on training alone at night when the days in California were so heavenly. He always slept through sunrise.
She had her long blue hair up in a fancy do that went over her shoulders as well, her stellar appearance only detracted by her choice of clothing: a gray pullover and a pair of off-white running shorts.
She was running along the coast. There were a lot of interesting folk along the Oceanside, she had to admit. Homeless beach bums, stoned out surfers, and would-be thugs with Mohawks (hey, this is the 80's!) and leather jackets just to name a few.
As she was about to go under her favorite pretty bridge she saw the most interesting character of them all. He was tall, about 6 feet, and slim like a guy who had maybe had a little too much fun in his day. His face would have been young and handsome if it didn't seem to be holding the weight of ages. Felicia guessed he was maybe a thirty-something heroine addict. His skin was pale enough that he could have been on heroine, and his hair was violet while his eyes seemed sunken and glazed.
Felicia had some time to kill and her kitty curiosity was getting the better of her, so she walked up to the stranger. She almost regretted it instantly: his disheveled hair and large brown coat smelled horribly of ale and god knows what else. Wincing a bit, she asked what she was thinking, "Okay, why purple?"
The man, assuming that's what he was, leaned over with a wide, menacing grin, towering over her, and chuckled in a deep Aussie tone, "Why blue while we're at it?"
Felicia flushed: he had a point, "Do you come here often?"
The figure leaned back against the bridge, the shadows half hiding his face except for his eyes, which seemed to take on a red glow, "Me trade takes me out on tours e'lat, so lez jest sayz I get around, eh Kitty?"
Felicia went blue in the face for a second, "And what exactly is your trade Sir?"
The man stepped forward, now sporting a battle-axe guitar and a hilariously cheesy grin, "I play tha strings! Name's Zabel Zarock, maychance ye've hearda me?"
Felicia quirked a brow, "A rock star eh?"
Zabel signed her the archetypical "Metal Devil Horns" and flashed another shit-eating grin, "You've got it baby! I've played Sydney and London, but now I've got this idea I'll be playin' in Vegas. Rock opera style!"
Felicia laughed merrily, "Yeah, you could play and I could sing!"
Zabel leaned in beside her and grinned, "Ye sing now do ye Kitty?"
Felicia nodded, "Uh huh! The name is Felicia and someday I'll light up Vegas myself with my rendition of Memory. You know, the song from Cats."
The funny man plopped down on the outer railing of a bridge column and grinned, "Alright then Mizz Felicia, lez hear ya wail."
Felicia nodded, taking her best posture, and closed her eyes,
Every streeet lamp, seems to beat a fatalistic warning. Someone mutters, and the street lamp gutters, and soon it will be mooooorning
Felicia looked up, her eyes sparkling as her face beamed with a radiant smile. She looked to the man, "Well, did you like it?"
Zabel was all teary-eyed, "That wuz bea-oo-tiful. We gotta get you onstage."
Felicia flushed, "I wish. I've made one cd but I haven't had the time to tour and my agent has had to let me go so I'm not getting gigs anymore."
No sooner had she said it than Zabel sprang into the air from his seat, did a 180 flip in mid-air, and landed with his back turned while grinning, "I think I failed t' mention this, but I was pretty well received by the UK so I've got somethin' of a following. I could get ya a 'gig' tomorrow if yer up to it."
Felicia's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!" she shrieked excitedly.
Zabel's grin only widened. He had his diva now.
Talbain looked at the crumpled, smelly paper, "Are you sure this is the place?"
Felicia glanced to him, "Is it the address on the paper Jon?"
Talbain nodded slowly, "Yeah but it doesn't look like it's been used in ages."
He wasn't kidding. They now stood in front of a large office-like building that appeared to be a tad in need of repair, or so it appeared from where they stood.
Just then Zabel ran up behind them, a taxi honking rudely at him for dashing across the street, "Hey Felice'! All set for tha show? Who's the guy?"
Felicia gave him a sunny smile, "This is my boyfriend Jon. He ran a martial arts dojo back in England so maybe you guys have met. Jon, this is Zabel."
Zabel smiled quaintly, "Your girlfriend 'as a lovely voice."
Talbain nodded, eyes narrowed, "Yes, she certainly does." He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this guy didn't smell right, and it wasn't his BO.
Zabel looked to Felicia, "We should get you to the dressing room. This building may look frail, but in a few it's gonna be holdin' over two hundred souls."
They walked inside together. Jon followed them through the side doors and started to follow them down a hall, but Zabel stopped him, "Sorry mate, but the dressing room's for the stars only. If ye wait in the auditorium I can promise a good seat though."
Jon nodded slowly, "Oh? I'll do that."
Zabel turned to follow Felicia, who was already headed down the hall, but stopped, smiling slyly over his shoulder, "Heard about your students out in the country by the way. My sympathies for the damage to the place." He kept on walking.
Talbain's face was murder.
Felicia sat in the back of the dressing room, brushing her hair. A gothy girl was applying make-up to her skin and a soft dye to make her fur a more vibrant white than usual. About that time, Zabel walked in, throwing off his jacket.
Underneath he had on an interesting, yet vaguely familiar, outfit. It consisted of black jeans with a spiked leg cuff and a Union Jack over one leg and deep brown leather boots at the bottom. The pants were held in place at the top by a black spiked leather belt and he wore black fingerless leather gloves. Other than that he was without clothing.
Zabel snapped his fingers, "Amityvilla, go help Arachnia with the girl. I want her all prettied up in five so she can open for us."
A blonde girl in a kinky black leather suit stopped polishing Zabel's coat and rushed over to Felicia, "Sure thing Mr. Z."
Felicia blinked as the girl did her nails. She had never even heard of this guy, but these two were making over him like he was the literal god of heavy metal. Then again, she had never been that into the heavier stuff. She stuck to opera and show tunes.
Finally, after about four minutes, she was all dolled up and stood before Zabel. He clapped his hands together, "Perfect, you look like a star, and since this is your first major gig in Cali I'm guessin, lemme give you a tip from an ol' pro."
Felicia would have laughed at him five minutes earlier, but that was before she saw him command respect like few artists she had ever met, "I'm listening."
Zabel leaned in and whispered, "If you want to make it big, you'll have to make a lot of sacrifices. This biz ain't about talent and it ain't about livin' a dream: it's about making bread money and keepin' a fanbase at all costs, got it?"
Felicia's eyes lowered, "I don't think I can sacrifice everything."
Zabel was taken aback, "An' why not? You've got the voice!"
Felicia looked up at him all teary eyed, "What about Jon?"
Zabel smiled slowly, "Dun worry about it right now: you'll have plenty of time to think about it after tonight cuz I've booked you on a brand new tour."
Felicia didn't know whether to be overjoyed or devastated.
Zabel sensed her dilemma, "Theeeeere now, dun be like that Kitty. This is your dream. You wanted to be a star and now you'll be the brightest star of all. Ye think I didn't make sacrifices to get where I'm at? Come see here."
Felicia followed him as he walked in front of the mirror. She barely held herself back from screaming at what she saw: a skeletal corpse had replaced Zabel's image in the mirror. It wore the same clothes as him, but it's hair was spiky and its eyes red.
Zabel turned her face to his, "See? Sacrifices. Now stop crying fer God's sake, you'll make the mascara run down yer cheeks. Best of luck."
It was showtime.
Zabel hadn't exaggerated: the auditorium was packed. Somewhere near the front of the crowd Talbain stood waiting for the show to begin.
Felicia was watching them all stand there in darkness from backstage and her nerve was faltering. Singing for a cd was a hell of a lot different than performing in front of hundreds of people live and in person.
Zabel walked past her. He was quite literally dressed to kill in a satin-colored 'ringmaster' type suit with a top hat to match. He tilted the top hat down, forcing his long scraggly hair further down his neck, and grinned to the crowd.
His eyes glowed redder under the shadow of the hat, "What's up all you freaks and babes!" The crowd cheered wildly, some beer spraying in the air and he was feeling more confident than ever, "Alright now, I know somma ya love the opera, and somma ya hate its guts, but tonight we got somethin' that rockers and geezers alike should dig. For her first performance in Pasadena, singing a rock opera rendition've Memory, I give you the nine- lived wonder of the world, Felicia!"
Most of the crowd wasn't too sure about this so Felicia got a real silent walk-on, and the blue spotlight focused on her as she closed her eyes and began to mew the words:
Meeeeeeemory. All alone in the moonliiiiiight. I can smile at the old daaaaays. I was beautiful then. I remeeeeember the time I knew what happiness waaaas. Let the memory live agaaaaaaaain
The guitar was playing the accompaniment with a steady, slow drumbeat as she continued, her eyes closing tighter as she gripped the mic and sweated the words:
Dayliiiiight! I must wait for the sunriiiiiiise! I must think of a new liiiiiife and I mustn't give iiiin! When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory tooooo and a new daaaaay will begin!
She held the note for what seemed like an eternity before she finally had to let it all go and the music slowed to a halt. The crowd was silent for a long moment, and then erupted into thunderous cheers. It was new. It was different. It kicked ass.
That night after the show, Felicia and Zabel sat in the dressing room. Zabel was counting up the money when Felicia slowly stood up and walked to the door.
"Where ya goin? We've got practice tonight Felicia", Zabel reminded her.
Felicia turned around, her eyes stained with tears, "No, we don't Zabel. I've thought about what you said and I guess I'm just not ready for this. Goodbye."
Zabel's eyes burned with rage as he leapt up from where he sat, tackling her and pinning her against a wall, his foul breath down her neck, "You listen to me Kit Kat: I didn't just set you up so you could live out some girlish fantasy. I upheld my end of a DEAL, and now you'll uphold your end, got it?"
A sharp hand snatched Zabel by the neck and threw him across the room, crashing him against a mirror and shattering him through it.
Talbain narrowed his eyes, "If it's not on paper it's not even legal."
Zabel slowly pulled himself to his feet, "You again. Didn't you learn anything when I had yer ass trapped six feet under an' there wuz nothin' ya could do about it?"
Talbain stanced, "Yeah, you had the home field advantage that time bony. This go around, I'm gonna rend you limb from disgusting limb until you're nothing but a 'shell' of your former self for what I just saw you do to my girl."
Zabel cracked his knuckles, "A'ight then 'furry', lez see if ya can."
A shatter of glass sounded as two hulking fighters hurled each other through a window into the streets outside. Talbain stood up, now a werewolf. Zabel stood up, now the demonic ghoul known as Lord Raptor. Both charged each other with a shout.
At the moment of pre-impact, Raptor randomly slid into a kick to his opponent's knee, "Psyche! Heheheh!" The wolf was on his back and Raptor sprinted into the nearest building to await his prey: the 12th Street Mall.
Talbain ran in, snarling up a storm, "GET OUT HERE!"
A maniacal laughter echoed through the empty mall, which resembled a scene from Dawn of the Dead, "Aincha never played hide and seek Fur-ass? Tell ya what, I'll make the game one step easier and count for you. One."
Talbain's lupine ears perked as he heard a pattering of feet from in front of the Gizmos Galore shop on the second floor.
"Two."
As he ran up the escalator it turned on and started going down. What rotten luck! Good thing people are faster than slow-moving conveyor belts. He made it to the top.
"Three."
He skidded to a stop in front of the store and looked around, his eyes prying into the darkest corners for any strange movement.
"Four."
Just then he heard a buzzing. It wasn't coming from around him though. Somehow, the electric buzzing was coming from under the floor!
"FIVE!"
The buzzsaw blade dove upward through the ground, digging into Talbain's hind paw and severely wounding it. He staggered back and sunk to one knee, "Damn you."
Raptor dove up next, saw in hand, and landed in front of his victim with a maniacal grin, "That'd be a bit redundant, now wouldn't it mate?"
In his arrogance, Raptor missed a key movement on Talbain's part: during his 'fall' he had purposely positioned himself so that Raptor was between his body and the rail around the balcony that was the edge of the second level of the mall.
"Ready or not, you stupid son of a bitch", Talbain grinned, hurling himself at Raptor in a Beast Cannon and knocking him over the rail.
Talbain was leaned against the rail and breathing hard, his eyes closed as he tried to compensate for the blood he had just lost.
Felicia ran into the mall and screamed, "Jon watch out!"
Talbain looked in the direction she was pointing to see Raptor 'climbing' the balcony with his arms alone. Who knew such frail looking limbs had so much power.
The skeletal creep hurled himself from the balcony like an ape on steroids and clung to a grip in the ceiling, then flung himself so he was standing behind Talbain.
Talbain turned, slowly stancing, "Not over yet."
Felicia had seen enough. She sprang from her hind legs in an inhuman jump onto the balcony itself, landing in a crouch between the two fighters and standing. She looked to Zabel and glared, "You're not as bad as you think you, Zabel Zarock."
Raptor blinked, "Beg yer pardon?"
Felicia's face remained tough but understanding, "You puff yourself up into this ugly monster so people will be afraid of you, but I'm not intimidated. I can still see that man who I sang to under the bridge. You know, you can talk all you want about giving everything for a goal in life, but while you've given away your body, you still have a soul somewhere in there and it will take more than some bad choices to destroy that."
Talbain tried to reach out for her, "Felicia, stop: he's just a raging monster."
Felicia shook her head and walked forward, "I don't believe that. I believe he's a man with a nasty past and an even nastier future if he doesn't clean up his act. Zabel Zarock, it's time to wake up!" With that, she slapped him across the face.
She slowly turned to Talbain and walked over, holding him up. As a tear fell down her face, she closed her eyes and let her voice pour over him:
Toooouch me. It's so easy to leeeeeave me. All alone with the meeeeemory of my days in the suuuun. If you touch me you'll understand what happiness iiiiiiis. Look, a new daaaaay has beguuuuun
Talbain stood, holding her. His foot had healed completely.
Zabel, his head turned to the side, was too stunned to move. It wasn't the pain from the slap that was holding him back: it was the sting of those words. What did she mean? What sort of future was there for a guy like him anyway? His mind swimming with questions, he gripped at his head and screamed, disappearing in a shower of sparks, not dying, but not to be seen again for some time.
Talbain looked to her, "You're going to make it big some day with a voice like that. You know that right Felicia?"
Felicia just smiled: finally, some constructive criticism.
DARKSTALKERS: THE SERIES WRITEEN BY REGIS A WELCH DARKSTALKERS © 2004 CAPCOM