Title: Blood of the Snake, a Get Backers fanfic
By: retroelectric
Warnings: Mature themes, Vampirism, Horror/Supernatural, Strong Language, Yaoi,Alternate Universe
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Get Backers. This is a Get Backers fan fiction, ideas purely fan-made speculations based off the relationship between the Get Backers duo and infused with several elements inspired – and not stolen off the Vampire Chronicles Universe by Anne Rice. It is also important to note that this does not contain ANY of her characters, thus this is strictly NOT a Vampire Chronicles/Get Backers crossover. In this way I do not breach any of Anne Rice's policies regarding fan fiction on her work.
Chapter 16
"Verdammt!" Ban cursed lightly in German, jumping upon feeling someone tap his shoulder.
Whirling behind to face Cadmus who was grinning at him in an infuriatingly triumphant manner, Ban glared and shook his fist threateningly. "Don't you ever do that again, you bloodsucker." Cadmus raised an eyebrow at his response, a tiny seductive glint of fang flashing from his coy smile.
"I can do whatever I want, my dear cherub."
Ban flushed slightly at the hidden implication, and raised his hands in defeat. "Hmh. Egotist," he muttered.
Ginji giggled lightly upon seeing the exchange and tugged his two lovers towards the entrance of the looming building, the Beast Master and the feminine thread weaver following in his stead. Shido stared discretely after the pale-blond haired man beside Ginji.
He didn't like his response to Ban, despite him hating the Snake Bastard. Kazuki had shot a knowing and secretive smile at Cadmus, which was duly returned by the vampire.
Unnerved by the unnatural glint in violet eyes from the man he still had yet to know more about, Kazuki looked down feeling strangely abashed as the five of them walked into Mugenjou.
"Any plans, Kazuki?" Ban said mildly, throwing a glance at him over his shoulder.
"I think it would be appropriate if we were to approach MakubeX first." Kazuki offered, and Ban nodded slightly. He nodded again to Cadmus, who had his hand on the large metal door. Cadmus heard the creak of metal as he pushed it open. His vampire eyes adjusted easily to the darkness and spotted nothing unusual around the high-ceilinged room. He was about to step inside when a sudden stab of pain in his chest stopped him.
A foreign, maniacal thought from a mortal invaded his mind.
I've got you, intruder, now die-
Cadmus saw that there was a small dagger sticking out of his chest. Removing it from his hard flesh with one quick movement, the pale-haired vampire spotted several more daggers flying straight at him. With little time to react, Cadmus turned his back to the unseen attacker and the daggers penetrated his body, causing him to fall down to the ground, barking loudly with laughter.
The four men looked at the daggers sticking from Cadmus's back in unconcealed horror. Kazuki covered his ears as Cadmus's laughter grew to an unbearably painful volume. The blond vampire heard the thoughts and movements of the man who had attacked him.
What the hell is this? Why isn't he dead? Why is that man laughing at me? Stop mocking me, you son of a bitch... I'm not a fucking boy anymore! I'll go out there and kill you with my bare hands... STOP LAUGHING!
"Foolish, that's what you are, if you want to come out here and kill me with your bare hands, you cowardly mortal," Cadmus said in a cajoling and mocking tone. He heard the man gasp silently, and Cadmus could even smell the sweat and fear emanating from the man. He almost lost himself in the spell of the mind game he was playing with him. The scent of a senseless killer's throbbing blood sang out to him.
Ginji's voice interrupted his lusty thoughts.
"C-Cadmus-san... Stop it, you're scaring me," Ginji whispered, staring at the many daggers sticking from Cadmus's back.
"Oi Cadmus, you okay?" Ban said, frowning at the still vampire.
Cadmus turned to them and smiled uncharacteristically. "Yes. I'll be okay if someone helps me to remove all those damned knives from my back."
Ban helped Cadmus remove the bloody daggers, flinging them to the ground. "Thank you, Ban."
Cadmus couldn't bear to look at Ban or anyone else; the blood lust he felt brewing in his ageless body was multiplying by the tenfold. He sidled up to the man who had attempted to kill him in one quick, unseen movement. Finally getting a view of his attacker, Cadmus took in the delicate features of the young man – cropped auburn hair and large fearful green eyes and the sweat pooling down his delicate, swan-like neck.
"Pity, you're just a boy," Cadmus sighed into the skin of the boy's neck. He felt him shiver from the contact of his cold breath onto his skin, and he couldn't think for a moment as his sharp teeth pierced the jugular and warm blood gushed into his mouth.
The boy's heart pumped his blood frantically into the open, bleeding vein. Red clouded his vision as Cadmus heard the boy's heartbeat cease slowly, and he ripped his fanged mouth away from the neck before his heart stopped beating.
The dead body fell to the ground with a sick thud, and the next thing Cadmus knew through his lust-hazed mind was that Shido had him pinned against the wall, his hands pressed hard against his throat.
"You son of a bitch!" Shido snarled. "Why did you go and kill a boy, you murderer?!"
Cadmus laughed and felt Shido bristle at this. "And you'll find the reason why I did it by killing me in return, Shido-kun?"
Cadmus didn't need to push Shido away as he saw Ban ripping the larger man off himself with one forceful movement.
"Don't fucking touch him, Monkey Tamer!"
"So what? He's a monster, Snake Bastard! He killed a boy in cold blood! I don't know how he did it, but-" Shido glared at Ban heatedly. "Of course. You monsters must stick together, right? And go freakin' kill weaker people together!"
Ban's right hand thrummed angrily and his heart clenched as he heard the hurtful words from the Beast Master. Was that still true? Ban wondered. Was he still a despicable monster?
"You're the freakin' son of a bitch-" Ban snarled heatedly, his right hand poised to hurt Shido with its gripping force.
"STOP IT!" Ginji yelled, and everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to stare at him. Electricity crackled menacingly around his body. Ginji's normally sweet face had hardened, and his chocolate brown eyes were narrowed.
"Shido-nii," Ginji looked at Shido with the hard expression which reminded him of Raitei, "You shouldn't assume such bad things about Cadmus-san! He is not a murderer! Please don't go hurting people who I LOVE!" Everybody looked surprised at his outburst, and Ginji continued, aiming his hard glare at his dark-haired partner. "And Ban-chan! I know you're protective over Cadmus-san and all, but there's no need to hurt ANYONE about it! He can take care of himself! You should know this better than anyone else!"
Everyone was silent. Even Shido had the decency to look abashed.
Kazuki was the first to break the silence. "Please forgive Shido-kun for his slip of emotion, Ginji-san," He said, smiling slightly and bowed. "Let's forget about what happened. We have other important things to do now, don't we?"
Ginji nodded, smiling brightly as though he didn't have an angry outburst just a few minutes earlier. "Yes, Kazu-chan. Let's go."
The five men walked on, their footsteps the only sound vibrating throughout the maze-like tunnels.
A few minutes' of walking around sharp bends proved their efforts to get to MakubeX's headquarters futile. Kazuki knew that as the information seeker that they should reach the appropriate stairwell leading to the headquarters if they'd turned around that corner. But it seemed as though everything was repeating itself, much like a bad dream. Or it was one of MakubeX's virtual realities, Kazuki thought. Cadmus picked up that thought, finally understanding the situation.
In a sudden impulse, Kazuki called out.
"MakubeX! I know you're listening! Please stop this, we need to see you urgently! Let us meet you!"
"What the hell, itomaki, shut up!" Ban hissed, looking around warily. The deafening silence around them seemed to thicken. The Jagan user feared the worst.
In the distance, something luminous flickered, catching their attentions. Kazuki smiled softly and went closer to the brightly illuminating door. "See, Ban-kun? Nothing can go wrong."
"On the contrary, yes, everything can go wrong. That's not MakubeX in there," Cadmus said, frowning as he heard several foreign voices coming from behind the door.
"Then who?" Ginji asked. Ban smirked smugly at Kazuki, who ignored him.
It was that familiar yet foreign disjointed thoughts coming from that man Akabane. Cadmus remembered their encounter the night before. "Just... let's not go there."
He placed a little mental suggestion in Ban's mind that a certain cloaked Transporter who shouldn't be there, was behind the door. Ban perked and looked at Cadmus, and nodded. He grabbed Ginji by the arm and led him away from the door.
"C'mon, Ginji, we're out of here."
"But-" A loud bang interrupted Ginji's retort.
Ban turned his head, only to find the door had flown wide open. The silence grew unbearable after a few moments. Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, the silence was broken by the sound of footsteps. A familiar black-cloaked Transporter stepped out, followed by several unknown men.
The man spoke in low, and somewhat chiding tones. "My, my, leaving already, Get Backers? And here
I was, thinking to myself how... pleasant it would be to chat to Cadmus-kun for a bit."
Cadmus remained dispassionate despite the shock he felt from those words. "So you do remember me."
"Of course I still remember you, Cadmus-kun. How can I forget about the newest member of the Get Backers, the one with truly amazing powers that I've never seen before in my life?" Akabane's eyes narrowed slightly. "I want to know in greater depth, about what you really are."
All of them didn't speak nor move for a moment. Ban bristled at the tension, thinking to himself how all of this was a waste of time. "What the fuck are you doing here, Dr. Jackal?! We never invited you here. Go get a life!" Ban snarled, moving up to Akabane threateningly.
Akabane smiled graciously and remained unaffected. He answered Ban's question, preferring to omit the Jagan user's harshness. "First and foremost, I am here simply to tag along for the ride." He gestured lazily at the men behind him. "In fact I'm here to find out why there were missing holes in my mind as I woke up yesterday. I'm not angry that the mission was a failure, no – but I wonder greatly about a man who can wipe out people's minds, burn them down to ashes with but a mere thought, and to also hear voices through thick walls."
"I strongly urge you, Cadmus-kun, to refrain from toying with my mind like yesterday. I'd prefer to remember my encounters with such a powerful and mysterious man such as yourself." Akabane said, now turning to Kazuki and Shido. "You are here for Kakei Juubei, are you not? I feel like it is my duty to inform you that a person such as he has no chance of recovering from his condition. I'm afraid that he's in a coma for drug overdose." Akabane shook his head. "Pity, and I thought he would be above all that."
Kazuki clapped his palm over his mouth in horror, his brown eyes watering with tears. "W-What..." He stammered. Ginji glanced at Kazuki, feeling sorry for him.
Kazuki took a deep breath and plunged forward. "Do you know where he is, Akabane-san?" It wouldn't hurt to ask.
"Of course I do. He's at Gen's pharmacy." Kazuki nodded, and mumbled thanks to the Transporter. He grabbed Shido's hand and ran forward, oblivious to the Beast Master's choked cry of surprise.
"Good, we're finally alone now." Akabane said, sparing a glance at Ban and Ginji. It looks like they're preoccupied with Tenma's henchmen, he thought. Ban was placing several well-aimed Snake Bites, a look of distant pleasure etched on his features whereas Ginji was making use of his electricity to attack them.
Akabane felt a shiver creeping itself into his bones as Cadmus grinned ferociously, baring his long fangs.
"Very well. I'll tell you what I really am."