Disclaimer: I don't own Blade or any of its characters. I do Max, Xavier, Rev, and Cam, so no stealing!

Chapter 26: The Fat Lady

WHACK!

Grimwood had just landed a hard punch into King's face. His body sagged, weakened from the beatings he's undergone. The fact that Grimwood was using him as a punching bag and that both Danica and Asher were looking on in joy didn't even bother him. The fact that Drake had both Max and Zoe in his possession, that bothered him. He had no idea where they were, what he was doing to them, if they were dead or alive. Grimwood punched King once again.

Yeah, this was definitely not good.

"Ooh, you're gonna be sorry you did that," King told his assailant cockily. Just because he wasn't in a good situation, didn't mean that he couldn't have a little fun. Besides, the real fun was just about to begin.

"Why?" Asher asked amusedly. "Nobody's coming for you, King-shit!"

"Sure they are," he replied confidently, in a vast amount of pain. "God! See, one of the things you fuckheads need to know about us Nightstalkers is that when you join our club, you get all sorts of groovy door prizes, and one of them is this nifty little tracking node surgically implanted in your body."

All of them laughed loudly, not believing him for a second but still finding him as entertaining as ever.

"Bullshit," Grimwood said.

"You see, when one of us goes missing the others, they just dial up the satellite," he told them, and looked at Grimwood before continuing pointedly, "which is in space," he told him as if he was a child. "And then, presto: instant cavalry." The three vampires started to clap, smiling amusedly. "You like that, huh?" He laughed with them. "Go fuck your sister," he said to Asher.

"Okay, King, where is this tracking node of yours?" Danica asked mockingly, walking over to him. If he wanted to play, they could play. Not like it mattered to her; he was going to die one way or another.

"It's in my left ass cheek," he replied, and she scowled at him. Affronted, she slapped him hard, sending his head to the right. "Fine," he conceded, spitting out some blood. "It's in my right ass cheek."

WHACK! Danica slapped King again, this time knocking his head the other way.

"Okay, I'm," he said, gasping for breath, "okay, seriously now. It's in the meat of my butt, just below the Hello Kitty tattoo." Danica proceeded to kick King in the groin and his body sagged, sucking in air. Despite his attempts at humor, he was really hurting now. "Seriously, just pull down my tighty-whities and see for yourself!"

"ENOUGH!" she shouted in annoyance. "It's not funny anymore!"

"No, it's not, you horse-humping bitch!" he shouted, wincing as he took a breath and shocking Danica. She didn't think he'd have the balls to insult her, considering his predicament. "But it will be a few seconds from now. See that tickle in your throat you're feeling right now?"

As soon as he said that, Danica realized that she DID have a feeling in her throat. She started to cough, blinking repeatedly as if her eyes were irritated. She rubbed them and looked behind her to the others. Both Grimwood and Asher were coughing. They were all feeling the same effects as her, and Grimwood was coughing up ash! King lifted his bruised face and stared up at Danica through blood-shrouded eyes. For the first time, she got a sense of his true hatred for her; she could see it loud and clear.

"That's atomized colloidal silver," he told them 's heightened hearing keyed into the rumble and hiss of the air-conditioning system. Looking up, she couldn't see anything but she knew she felt something. "It's being pumped into the building's air conditioning system, you cock juggling thunder cunt!"

King wasn't wrong. Abby had played it smart and did just as King had explained. The clouds of tiny silver particles were blowing into the room from the heating duct. Not to mention that vampires throughout the building were distracted from the burning effects of the silver. The particles were dusting the vampires, being unwittingly inhaled by them and as the vampires reacted, suddenly gagging, their throats and faces were slowly turning to ash.

"Which means the fat lady. Should be singing. Right. About. NOW!"Nothing happened, and the three vampires cleared their throats. They were slowly starting to feel a little better, and looked at King amusedly. "Heh, this is awkward," he commented. "Do you have a cell phone?"

BAM! The skylight above them suddenly shattered as Blade crashed down. He landed in a cat-like stance, and then flipped over into a cartwheel, kicking Grimwood in the face. As Grimwood went down, Danica and Asher scattered out of the room. As Blade tackled Grimwood, sending both of them over the railing into the lower level of the penthouse, King still sat there helplessly and exhausted.

"Um, a little help here?" he called after Blade pleadingly.

Alarms were ringing throughout Phoenix Towers. Danica and Asher rushed down the hall, trying not to breathe the silver-contaminated air. They could see other vampires staggering from doorways, coughing and gagging. Where the hell were supposed to go? The same question entered Drake's mind as he sat in his quarters, watching Max and the returned Zoë. He heard the alarms and reached for his sword, which rested in a nearby stand. As he headed out, he strode past the chained Max and Zoë, petting Max's head as if she were a dog.

"How are we going to get out of her?" Zoë asked Max. "What's happening?"

"I don't know how, sweetie, but I have a pretty good idea of what's happening," she replied comfortingly. "We're gonna stay here for now. Abby or King will come and break us free, okay?" Zoë nodded, and hugged herself into Max's side. "Come on, Hannibal," she whispered to herself, truly afraid for the first time in a long time.

On the lower level, in the Penthouse, Blade and Grimwood were going at it. Reinforcements flooded in from multiple entryways. It was an all-out melee. Blade was seriously overwhelmed, but the sheer number of vampires and humans was actually slowing them down. Taking on a half-dozen of them at once, Blade stunned one of the Familiars, using him as a human shield. He soon tossed him aside to trip up another on-rushing pair. It was here that he paused, instantly calculating the geography of the room, the relative positions of the other combatants, assessing decorations and furniture as possible weapons. His battle plan ready, and Blade engaged his enemies once again.

Meanwhile, back on the upper level, Abby appeared at the lip of the smashed-in skylight. She slowly and carefully lowered herself down on a rope and rushed to King's side. She tried to look positive, but it was hard when more than half your team was dead, one was tortured, and the other two were missing. Things didn't look good, but Sommerfield had done her job and they had Daystar, finished and ready to go. They could do this, if they only knew were Drake was.

"You all right?" she asked, though it sounded like a stupid question considering the way he looked.

"Nothing a hot tub full of Bactine won't fix," he replied jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. Abby had to smile at him as she pulled out her gun and shot the chains holding him down, though a little too close to his hand in his opinion. "Um, thank you?"

"Where are Zoë and Max?" she asked, pulling the chains and freeing him.

"Drake's got 'em," he told her solemnly. He still felt guilty that he couldn't protect them better, but Abby just nodded.

"Brought your toys," she told him with a smile, standing up and handing him a bag with a shirt and his guns. "Try to keep up," she told him, ruffling his hair and heading out the door. A few moments later, a stunned and slightly confused King followed.

P.S.: Three pages total.