Part 26 – Ye Of Little Faith

As Jax advanced on her, Tai-San stumbled backwards, realising her mistake in opening the cage. Jax slashed his knife at her and she threw up her arms in defence. The tip of the knife caught both of her arms, but left her with only shallow cuts.

She ignored the pain, and ducked down on one knee, the other leg shooting out in an arc, tripping Jax up. He landed on his back on the cement floor, hitting his head hard. His knife went clattering to the floor. Tai-San kicked it and it went spinning away, far out of his reach. Jax looked dazed from his fall, but was struggling to get up anyway.

Tai-San took the opportunity to run to the thick door of the basement. She pounded on it and Axl opened it, an exasperated look on his face.

"Didn't you hear me shouting?" Tai-San asked breathlessly, clutching her bleeding arms.

"It's a cast iron door!" Axl pointed out.

"Jax attacked Spike with a knife!"

"What's the commotion?" Ebony appeared by Axl. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood all over Tai-San's arms and top.

Axl, Milton and some more Locos barged past Ebony and Tai-San and went for Jax, who was clambering across the basement floor to get his knife. Ebony followed them closely, and grabbed a baton hanging from the waist of one of them.

As Axl and some others yanked Jax into standing position, him kicking and struggling all the way, Ebony raised the baton and hit Jax in the side of the head with it. Blood streamed down his right brow. For good measure, she hit him twice more, and wasn't satisfied until he was unconscious.

Tai-San rushed past them and went into the holding cage. Ebony and her Locos, in all the action with Jax, hadn't seen Spike on the floor by the bed. He lay there, one hand stretched out, his nails scraping the cement floor. The other hand was clutching the wound in his upper abdomen. His chest rose and fell rapidly with shallow, rasping breaths.

Tai-San fell to her knees beside him. The look Spike gave her was one of pure need. He tried to speak but more blood just spilled from his lips, much to Tai-San's horror.

"It's all right. Don't try to talk," she said soothingly.

She pulled Spike's hand away, and her face contorted at the sight of the gaping stab wound.

"I need something to stop the blood!" she screamed at the Locos frantically.

"Go get sheets, material, anything!" Ebony ordered them.

"What do we do with him?" Axl asked, gesturing to Jax's limp form.

"Handcuff him," Ebony snapped. "And get Bray!"

"I'm already here," Bray said, walking in with a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong?" He walked up to the cage, and immediately backed away, pressing a hand against his mouth. With a hard look on his face, he cast questioning eyes on Ebony. "How did this happen?"

"Don't ask me! I have no idea! The two of them must have gotten into a fight!" Ebony replied, shrugging.

"Put him in the storage cage in the level three. Take the lock and keys from this cage. I want no less than eight men on the door! He is not getting the chance to do this again!" Bray yelled. "No more meals, no more beds, nothing! Just lock the creep in!"

A few Locos picked up Jax and carried him out, while another retrieved the lock from the cage, and picked up the keys.

Bray sent Ebony a livid look, and pushed past her. Kneeling by Tai-San, he looked at her for guidance. "What do I do?"

"For starters, take off your shirt, and press it to the wound. My hands aren't doing much good," Tai-San instructed.

She moved her hands away from the wound. They were literally dripping with blood, but she fought back any queasiness she might have felt. She simply wiped her hands on her clothes. She then moved from her kneeling position, and sat down, crossing her legs. She pulled Spike's head into her lap, and placed a comforting hand on his forehead.

Bray shrugged off the grey shirt he had on over his t-shirt, and balled it up. Spike's eyes bulged with pain as Bray put pressure on the wound.

Lex walked down the steps then, looking irritated. "What's going on? Why is the prisoner being moved? And why are your lackeys making everyone give up their bed sheets?"

He walked up to the cage, and saw the scene before him. "Tai-San! Are you hurt?" He immediately panicked at the sight of all the blood on her.

"Not really, just a few cuts… it's all Spike's blood," she said softly.

"What the hell happened?" Lex demanded, setting fierce eyes on Ebony.

"Why does everyone assume I know? I was upstairs with all of you!" she exclaimed. "Miss Faith Healer here is the one who saw it all!'

"I didn't see much. When I walked in Jax had him up against the cage wall, the knife was still stuck in his chest. Then Jax just— just yanked it out," Tai-San explained.

Milton and a few Locos came in then with a pile of sheets. They started tearing them up and handing them in to Tai-San and Bray. Bray's shirt, which he'd discarded for a torn piece of a sheet, was soaked in blood and creating a puddle around it on the concrete floor.

Spike was almost seizing with pain now, and Tai-San had to place her hands down on his shoulders to stop him from convulsing off the ground. Bray had never liked Spike, or what he stood for, but that didn't seem to matter one bit now. All that mattered to Bray was saving his life.

"There's too much blood Tai-San. Even with all these sheets, we're not going to be able to stop it. We need help," he said, feeling helpless.

"There isn't anyone to help!" Lex snorted, entering the cage. "You're as good as dead mate," he said to Spike despondently.

Spike just coughed agonizingly in response, even more blood seeping from his mouth. He felt almost as if he were in some sort of trance, silent and paralysed, as all of this action went on around him. All he could focus on was the pain, the excruciating pain.

"We need Dal, he's the only one with any medical experience!" Bray insisted.

"Dal!" Ebony snorted. "He's just a kid."

"Whose father was one of the best doctors in the city! Dal learned a lot from him. He saved Trudy's life when she got sick after Brady was born!"

"And you think he knows of a magical cure for a stab wound to the chest? Bray wake up from your fantasy world! Lex is right— he's as good as dead!" Ebony yelled.

Tai-San glared at the two of them. "He's not dead yet! He can still hear you two!" she snapped. "Ebony, shut up and get out if you're not going to say anything positive! There is a man lying on the floor in front of you bleeding to death— so make yourself useful for once and do something to help!"

Lex smirked as Ebony's eyes shot daggers at Tai-San.

"I suppose I'll see about getting Dal here then," she said reluctantly.

"You do that!" Tai-San said shortly.

Ebony stalked out of the room without another word.

"Lex, I need you to look for a room to put him in. It must have a clean, comfortable bed. Get some water, hot and cold, and try to find more material to soak up the blood. Oh and get Dal's first aid kit, he keeps it in Jack's shop. It must have something in it that we can use."

"Sure thing babe." Lex winked at Tai-San and left the room.

"What do you think Tai-San?" Bray asked softly. "Does it look good?"

Tai-San glanced down at Spike sadly, and noticed that his eyes were closed. She could still hear his rasping gasps for air though, so she knew he'd finally passed out. "He's unconscious. It's probably for the best. The pain must have been unbelievable. I'm no doctor Bray… I don't what's going to happen. But I don't think it looks good, no. You saw all that blood pour out of his mouth, and listen to his breathing…"

"What are you saying?"

"One of his lungs has been punctured. Soon he won't even be able to breathe."

Bray squared his jaw and closed his eyes. "When will this end? How many more people will Jax hurt?"

"Let's just focus on helping Spike for now."

"If we can help him," Bray said morosely.

Right now, things didn't look too good for Spike, though Bray hated to admit it. This was the very thing he'd been fearing— that one of them would fall critically ill, or get seriously injured, and that there would be nothing anyone could do to help. And it certainly didn't look like anyone would be able to help Spike.


Java walked into the mall that night, tired and utterly furious. She had snuck off to the Techno base to have a little chat with her husband about why the hell he had made her infiltrate the Mallrats. Needless to say, he hadn't been very happy to see her. She was supposed to be 'in character' as he put it, 24/7, never leaving the mall and never letting her guard down. He been livid to see her and sent her straight back, but not before they'd had a blazing argument.

Java saw his making her do this as simply another thing to push her from the Techno fold, and see what games he could play with her and Ebony. From what she had seen, the Mallrats were like any other struggling tribe in the City, they fought among themselves, they worried about survival, they were normal kids. But Ram was paranoid about the sway they supposedly held over other tribes, and wanted Java to discover all of their weaknesses, and strengths and their future plans.

When she arrived at the stairs, the mall was lit dimly and strangely quiet. It wasn't yet late enough for everyone to have gone to bed, especially not those annoying kids who rampaged around until all hours. She walked up the steps, frowning. When she reached the top, she saw a few Mallrats sombrely congregating in the café.

"What's going on?" she asked softly, the silence making her afraid to even raise her voice.

Bray turned to look at her, and she stepped away a little, seeing he was absolutely covered in blood, fresh blood.

"What happened?" she exclaimed, genuinely shocked.

"You've missed a lot while you were out on your… stroll around the city," Ebony said pointedly, crossing her arms.

"Someone has been killing girls in the city… today we caught him. It was a Loco… Jax," Bray said.

"Jax? And… the blood?"

"He stabbed Spike down in the basement," Danni said, looking shell-shocked herself.

Java nodded. "Spike? Is he… dead?"

Bray shook his head. "No, he's not."

"Not yet," Ebony added.

Danni squared her jaw and sent Ebony a truly venomous look. "Will you just shut up?"

Ebony's head snapped in Danni's direction. "What did you say to me?"

Danni stood up. "I said shut up! You are the reason all of this has happened, you and your inept leadership and total disregard for anything not related to you and your egotistical need for power!"

"And your father is reason we're all here in the first place! I think that just about removes your right to cast blame on anyone!" Ebony hissed.

Bray stood up. "That was out of order Ebony! Danni's father has nothing to do with this and you know it!"

Ebony ignored him and narrowed her eyes at Danni. "I am so sick of you. You never even met her and you've managed to slip right into Amber's place perfectly. You've got her boyfriend, her position, her personality…"

Danni visibly paled and she glared at Ebony. "I am not Amber! When is everyone going to get that through to their heads? And you! The second she died I hear you jumped right in to try and claim Bray for yourself! You've always wanted him! You just can't handle that he doesn't want you!"

"We've gotten way off-topic here," Bray spoke up, looking from Danni to Ebony worriedly.

Java really didn't want to argument to end. She was very much enjoying seeing someone take Ebony down a peg.

"He's right. We have," Danni said coolly. "You're attacking me to try and shift the focus off of you. Nice try Ebony."

"It made you think though, didn't it?" Ebony breathed, smiling gently.

Danni rolled her eyes. "About what?"

"About whether he loves you. About whether anyone in this tribe even gives a damn about you. About whether they'd mourn for you the way they mourned for Amber if you died."

"That is it Ebony!" Bray shouted. "Enough about Amber!"

"You just don't want to hear it Bray because you're afraid I'm right too!" Ebony shouted back.

"You're not right. And I know that for sure. So does Danni!"

Danni paused and looked at Bray, not seeming as certain as he was. "Yeah… of course I do. Ebony, you know you and your tribe have been weakened. Two Locos down, one turned betrayer, one on his death bed. So much for your great leadership."

"There's nothing wrong with my leadership!" Ebony insisted hotly.

"Yes there is— you," Danni said calmly.

Ebony glared at Danni murderously for one moment before slapping her across the cheek. Danni recoiled, but swung round and slapped Ebony back with all her might. Ebony snarled and went for her, but Bray stepped in and shoved her back.

"You need to go back to the hotel and cool off. And don't come back here until you have! We need to be united now more than ever! We have a killer and two of his victims in this mall right now. This is a problem we have to deal with together!" Bray yelled.

Ebony said nothing, just stared, sneering at Danni. Then she turned on her heel to walk away, but bumped into Java, who she hadn't realised was standing so close by.

Java smiled mockingly and whispered in her ear. "Not so powerful now, are we? Looks like the queen of the Locos is no more."

Ebony's face contorted with fury and she pushed her sister out of the way, and stormed down the steps. Java just laughed to herself, feeling lighter than she had in a long time. She composed herself quickly though and turned to look at Bray and Danni with a sober expression.

"If there's anything I can do to help, just ask."

"Thanks Java. We appreciate it. Right now though you should probably just go to bed. There's going to be a tough day ahead tomorrow," Bray advised, looking worriedly at Danni out of the corner of his eye.

"Of course. Good night." Java walked off, thinking triumphantly of Danni hitting Ebony.

"Danni… are you okay?" Bray asked softly.

Danni looked at him with a hard glare. "Just fine, despite the fact that I was just slapped by your little girlfriend."

"What? Danni don't be ridiculous! Ebony is nothing to me! Everything she said was poison Danni, you know that!"

Danni shrugged, her face indifferent. "Do I? Now excuse me, I have to go and check on Micah."

Bray watched her leave dejectedly. "Danni please! Can't we talk?"

"No Bray! I told you I wanted space and I meant it!" Danni snapped at him over her shoulder.

Bray let out an aggravated groan and kicked the railing. The fresh wound on his stomach stung and he cringed painfully. There was too much going on now for him to think about his injury, or his problems with Danni though. Spike was laid out in an empty storeroom in which a bed and some chairs had been placed. He hadn't woken up yet and his still bleeding wound soaked through make-shift bandages in a matter of minutes.

Bray couldn't help but feel that sometimes the mall was cursed, that they were cursed. So many bad things had happened in it— the events that day were just the latest in a long line.


Ved's voice crackled through the intercom, interrupting Ram and Jay's discussion. "Ram, you've got a visitor."

Ram looked up from his conference table and met eyes with Jay urgently. He pressed a button on the control panel behind him and spoke into the microphone. "Who is it Ved? If it's Java again, tell her she can turn right around and go back to that damn mall!"

He waited a few seconds, and then Ved's voice echoed through the room again. "No… it's Ebony."

Ram looked around and smiled at Jay. "Really? Well Ved, bring our little friend to my private chambers and stay with her until I get there," he said smoothly. He walked away from the controls and crossed his arms. "So… Ebony came here of her own free will? I wonder what this is about?"

Jay looked sceptical. "Be careful Ram. She's slippery."

Ram just snorted. "I'm slipperier."

With one last smug grin he left the conference room. Arriving at the door to his bedroom, he paused, straightened his back and put on his game face. Then he sauntered inside. Ebony stood by the window looking irritable and impatient. Ved was right by her, leering at her smugly.

"Ebony, how lovely to see you again!" Ram said, throwing his arms wide.

Ved sniggered and Ebony stared at him. "Get away from me kid, or I'll wipe that stupid smirk off your face!"

Ram tutted at her. "Now, now, be nice to Ved. He's got good aim— as I'm sure you know."

"Just get him out of here," Ebony said plainly.

"You heard the lady Ved," Ram said smoothly, not taking his eyes off Ebony.

Ved left the room, and Ram went to sit on his bed. It was a huge four-poster one, with red velvet curtains and bed clothes. It looked lavish and over-the-top— classic Ram. He relaxed back against the oak headboard and crossed his long legs at the ankles. He gazed at Ebony lazily.

"So my dear, whatever is the matter? What could make you come all the way out here?"

Ebony stood at foot of the bed, a dark look on her face. "I want your wife out of my Mall— now!"

Ram shook his head easily. "Java's just paying a flying visit. She'll be out of there once she has all the information we need."

Ebony's lips tightened against her teeth, and her eyes flared. "No! That's not good enough! You never said anything about going near the Mall! You asked me if I would join with you, that was it!"

"And you never gave me an answer Ebony. So I had to put plan B into action," Ram replied smoothly.

"What exactly is this plan B? Does it involve— oh, I don't know, taking over my city?"

"Nothing of the sort."

Ebony grunted disbelievingly. "You make me sick. You wander into a random city and decide that you have the right to take it over. Well you don't!"

"And you do?" Ram shot back.

"I have every right. I've been here a lot longer than you, and I'll be here long after you," Ebony uttered.

Ram's amicable expression faded all of a sudden and he sat forward, setting a dark gaze on her. "I wouldn't bet on it sweetheart," he said, his voice deep and dangerous.

"Is that a threat?"

"I don't make threats Ebony, I make promises," he said pleasantly, leaning back and smiling once more.

"I'm not scared of you."

"If you were smart you would be," Ram replied, a sharp edge to his words. "You've seen what I have the power to do. It's something worse than starvation, worse than sickness or pain. It's deeper than any physical trivialities. I can get inside your mind, I can draw out all of your secrets, all of your fears… and trap you right in the middle of them. I can make your worst nightmares come true… and it's your own mind that helps me to do it."

"It's just an illusion though, isn't it?" Ebony said, undaunted. "It isn't real. And when everyone knows that, you'll have no power."

"Them's fighting words," Ram laughed softly.

"Yes they are."

Ram looked at her, the faint crow's feet at the corners of his eyes deepening at he smiled widely. "Do you really think I'd let you in on all of my plans? Do you really think VR is the only thing I've got? Please… Ebony, I'm a genius. Now you can say I'm egotistical and arrogant, you can say whatever you want. But it's the plain and simple truth. This is all my doing. This whole tribe and all of our technology. It all came from my mind. Can you lay claim to anything half as intelligent? No, you really can't. So just sit back and go along with what I'm doing Ebony— because there's nothing, nothing you can do to stop me. You can't even match me."

"You're just a little boy with big toys. You can't comprehend the power of the people in this city!"

Ram just shook his head, watching Ebony fume and pace, wondering just why exactly she had come here. It certainly hadn't been to ask him to take Java out of the Mall. No, if it had been then she wouldn't still be here, sparring with him.

Ram voiced his suspicion. "Why are you here Ebony? I told you Java's not leaving until she gets what I need— so why haven't you stormed out of here yet?"

Ebony glared at him. "Ever since you people arrived things have started to go badly. I blame you."

"No one knows we're here. You can't blame us!" Ram chuckled. "What's the big bad world done to Ebony now?"

Ebony jutted her chin out defiantly and looked away. "My lieutenant was stabbed today."

Ram sat forward again, his interest piqued. "Oh? It's Spike, right? How'd it happen?"

"One of my Locos did it," Ebony said reluctantly.

Ram let out a sharp cackle of laughter. "Oh my… so there's mutiny among the Locusts, hmm? Well, well!"

Ebony glared at him. "There is not a mutiny! There's just one seriously screwed up nutjob who thought it'd be fun to skewer everyone he met. We captured him, but Spike decided to go and have a little chat with the psycho. It's his own fault."

"You're one merciful girl, aren't you?"

"Mercy? There's no point," Ebony snorted. "The kid's already dead as far as I'm concerned. Last I saw he was bleeding out all over the mall. He's not going to make it through the night."

"And are you certain of that Ebony? Or do you just wish it was true?" Ram asked slyly.

"He was stabbed in the chest! He may be as stubborn as he usually is and cling on for a little while, but trust me— he's a goner. The Mallrats won't be able to help him."

"Oh ye of little faith! They seem to be an industrious tribe— I'm sure they'll help him."

Ebony shook her head obstinately. "He's a dead man!"

"You really seem to want him to die Ebony! Isn't he supposed to be your loyal lieutenant? I mean, I know you're not particularly fond of Spike… and it does seem that he commands a lot more trust and respect from your men than you do…"

Ebony gritted her teeth and walked around the bed to stand over Ram. "Have you still been having someone follow me?"

"That… and Java had a few interesting little morsels of information to tell me when she visited today. Seems you and your men have been reduced to running errands for the Mallrat! What a fall from grace!"

"We do not run errands!" Ebony yelled, her hands flailing around her in frustration.

Ram reached up and held her arms still. "It's okay, calm down," he said in a condescending tone. "It happens to the best of tribes. They get taken over…"

"We haven't been taken over by the Mallrats!" Ebony struggled to yank her wrists from his grip, but failed.

"Ebony, I understand. The Locos are fighters, warriors… but the Mallrats, they're politicians, they're debaters… they were bound to inspire more trust in the tribes of the city."

"Who do you think you are— you just turn up here and act like you know everything… Let go of me! Let go right now! I'm getting away from you and your pathetic computer geeks!" Ebony yelled at him, pulling against his hands.

Ram simply tightened his grip and used it to pull her down onto the bed beside him. "Now, now… just settle down and listen to me sweetheart," he said softly and calmly into her ear. "It's okay Ebony. It's okay. The Locos may be falling apart in front of you… but the Technos are strong, strong and loyal. My tribe would follow me to the ends of the earth. They obey who I tell them to obey— Ved, Jay, your sisters… they wouldn't have the power they have if I hadn't told them they could have it. Do you understand? So if you need us Ebony, we're here. My tribe is here, and I'm ready to have them to obey you."

Ebony just stared at him. He was so close to her, he could feel her warm breath on his cheek. He saw the tiny slivers of gold in her brown eyes. He noticed the small smudges of the black make-up around her eyes. He saw the red mark tinged with blue on her cheekbone, an injury of some sort. He saw all of her flaws, up close and personal, but they didn't change his opinion of her one bit.

He still admired Ebony despite her failings, he admired her a lot.

He admired her strength and energy. He admired her fiery beauty, still fresh even after years of hardship. But he disliked her obstinacy. It was a trait that he had noticed in both her and Java, and in Siva to an extent. It irritated him. Their obstinacy blinded them completely. And if Ebony was to survive, she would need to push aside that obstinacy and accept his offer.

"Ebony. The Technos are waiting. All you have to do is say yes," Ram breathed.

"Say yes… say yes and just join you? Give up my tribe, and join you?" Ebony asked quietly, seeming annoyed and confused at the same time.

"The Locos are a dying breed Ebony," Ram told her, shaking her gently. "Don't die along with them."

Ebony stared into his eyes, and he thought he saw a flicker of realisation and understanding in them for a split second. Then it was gone. Ebony moved away from him and stood up.

"No. They're not dying. The Locos will be great again. Power and chaos will reach every corner of this city… and then you'll see how useless anything you have to offer is," she whispered pensively.

"Don't throw this opportunity aside Ebony," Ram warned.

"It's not an opportunity. It's a trap," Ebony murmured, looking at him with glassy eyes. "I won't let you trap me! Not again! Not inside this army base, and not inside my mind either – not inside that closet with the rat!"

"This isn't a trap, it's the only option for your survival," Ram said reasonably.

"Survival? Survival is what I know best!" Ebony told him softly, though the look in her eyes was fierce. "How do you think I've managed to stay alive all these years? I'll do just fine without you and your Technos Ram… just fine."

With that, she turned and walked out, leaving Ram staring after her, bewildered. He shook his head. Both she and her sisters were a mystery to him. But he'd break them someday soon. He'd break all three of them.


Coming soon in Part 27 – A Dying Breed:

- Dal arrives and tries to help Spike – but is he too late?
- Solaris returns to help care for the mystery girl
- Tribes from all around the city turn up in the mall to find out about the trial