Great and Small I
Dracula walked into the large warehouse and looked over the modifications in approval.
On one side of him, Ruthven stood. On the other was a brunette woman with soft features…or what would be soft features if not for the fangs in her mouth. The Countess Carmilla Karnstein smiled as she handed over the blueprints for the machine in question. Dracula took the blueprints and looked over them.
'As you can see, I've made it exactly to your specifications,' Carmilla was telling him. 'It will be able to traverse air, land, and sea as you requested, Lord Dracula. I've also added the specs to make it untraceable to any form of scanning equipment. Even the most sophisticated technology won't be able to see them coming.'
'Good, good,' Dracula said. 'I should like those boys to remain as inconspicuous as possible. God knows they won't do it by themselves.'
Ruthven chuckled. 'Go a little easy on them. They are still teenagers. I know in our day, boys of that age were supposed to operate as men but we understand more about the brain's development now. It's normal for them to be a little cocky. They'll grow out of it.'
Dracula snorted, irritated.
'Where are the boys right now, anyway?' Carmilla asked.
'Oh, their class is taking a field trip.'
Carmilla nodded. 'Well, it should be ready when they get back.'
:[
Dr. Dred stood over his notes.
The most distinguishable of the Drak Pack was Drak himself. He was clearly a vampire. He'd therefore have the same weaknesses that Vampira did. It was the other two he wasn't sure about. He had no way of knowing what the horrible Howler was. His first instinct was "werewolf", but those only came out at a full moon. He could try silver, he supposed, but there was no guarantee that would work if he wasn't a werewolf.
Then there was the third member. Frankie, Dred had heard him called. He was an absolute monster. Of what kind, though, he had no idea. He seemed to be comprised entire of physical strength. There wouldn't be many weaknesses for them to exploit. With a bit of luck, he was like Mummy-Man: strong as a horse, but dumb as a doornail.
With all this in mind, now all he had to do was confront them.
In the past, the Drak Pack had only engaged – with the exception of their first meeting – when Dred's plots had directly affected them. They had some connection to Count Dracula. Just what it was, Dred didn't know. What he did know was that the vampire overlord had some authority over them. He sent them into battle, and he decided what they would become involved in.
The first time…Well, he had drawn attention.
That was the most likely reason why Dracula had sent them in.
So…Dred had a plan to lure them into a fight in much the same way.
:[
Jess pulled herself up onto the monkey bars outside the zoo as they waited for their teachers to get some paperwork out of the way. Her friends were all sitting around with her, chattering. Jess was only paying attention with half an ear. That was until she heard one of the other girls speak his name.
'I did once,' she said. 'That was weird.'
'Weird how?' another girl asked. 'Was he no good?'
'No, Vince was pretty good. He was just…weird.'
Amused, Jess leaned forward. People like Vincent James always hated being seen as "weird", and it delighted her to gain access to information to that effect. 'Be more specific. Was he into weird role-playing or something?'
'No, he just…' she pulled a face. 'Bit.'
Jess leaned back on the monkey bars. '"Bit"?'
'Yeah, with teeth and all,' she said. 'I was expecting a hickey, but he left me with bite marks and all. Didn't even apologise for it. Just said it was something he did.'
'Of course he didn't apologise for it!' Jess scoffed. A biting fetish. Vincent James had a biting fetish. Jess found herself slightly disappointed. She'd been hoping for something a little less "some people do, some people don't". Still, a fetish…wasn't exactly an appropriate conversation topic. Fetishes were private, but she also didn't want to be seen to be standing up for a guy she hated. More than enough people already thought she secretly had the hots for him.
'Oh, is that why girls, that actually have a chance, flirt with him but do no more?' another of the girls asked. 'I always wondered about that.'
'Yeah.'
'Ugh.' Disgust seemed to be the way to go. Jess flipped herself around into a handstand on the monkey bars.
Her friends looked at her.
'Wow!' one of them gasped. 'How do you do that?'
'I've done gymnastics since I was two.' Jess flipped down and landed on the other side. 'And please don't talk about Vince's sexual proclivities. Or anyone's, really. It's gross.' She turned and walked towards where Ms. McGowan was smoking.
She had the misfortune of walking by the café, though, just as Vince and his friends came out.
'Oh, for God's sake!' Jess snapped.
'Hey, it's hardly my fault if you don't watch where you're going,' Vince retorted.
Jess scoffed. 'Well, learn to walk slower.'
'What pace did you have in mind?' he huffed. 'Slow as granny?'
'Well, no,' Jess sniped. 'Then the grannies would have to put up with you.'
Howard and Frank were frozen behind Vince, eyes wide and watched apprehensively. At least they weren't like normal cronies of a popular guy. They didn't jump to butt in on his arguments and outnumber the girl he was arguing with. They just stood back and left the two of them to go at it.
'Ugh!' Vince brushed past her. 'Whatever!' His friends fell into step behind him.
Jess scoffed and continued on her way.
'You and Mr. James clearly do not get along,' Ms. McGowan remarked in amusement as Jess came over to her.
'I've seen his type,' Jess remarked. 'He draws in every girl within a 5 mile radius, and he'd happily date several of them at once. He's used to women swooning over him, so it's a shock to him when somebody doesn't.'
Ms. McGowan looked at her. 'Had a boyfriend like that?'
'Yeah.' Jess presumed her being a teacher for 20 years meant she'd seen it before.
Merle flew down and landed nearby. She immediately started grooming. At the same time, Jess got the sense that the bird was wondering if she wasn't projecting. Projecting? Really? Jess looked back over as Ms. McGowan pulled her pouncing cat out of the air.
'Ginger, no!' She put the cat aside. 'A familiar is a familiar, but it's still an animal.'
:[
'I don't see why you and her hate each other,' Frank remarked. 'Every time you bump into each other, you do nothing but argue.'
'I can't speak for her,' Vince said. 'But, for what it's worth, I don't actually hate her.'
'Could've fooled us, Vince,' Howard remarked.
'I don't trust her.'
'Could you explain that?' Howard asked.
'She's an untrained witch,' Vince said. 'And the scent of her blood is changing. I mean to ask Big D what that means. But, if it means what I think it does, that's nothing but bad news.'
'What d'you think it means?' Frank asked.
'I think it means she's being trained by someone else.' Vince pulled a face. 'She smelt different to begin with, but this is…worse, in a way.'
'Does she smell bad?' Howard asked.
'No…Not "bad" exactly.' Vince seemed to fish around for a moment. 'More…intense.' He rubbed at his nose.
'I don't get it,' Frank said.
'Me neither,' Howard remarked.
'Never mind,' Vince said as their teacher called the class to come to the entrance to the zoo.
:[
Dr. Dred stood behind Toad, telling him exactly where to drive.
'Where are we going, Dr. Dred?' Fly-Man asked.
'It looks as though we are going to the zoo,' Vampira observed.
'We are,' Dr. Dred said. 'I am setting a trap for the Drak Pack – one so brilliant, they will not be able to escape.'
'And how does the zoo help?' Toad asked.
'Because, you fool!' Dred yelled. 'I need a public place that they'd find out about quickly. And, after all, what's more urgent than a bunch of stampeding animals?'
'But don't the humans have people who can deal with that?' Vampira asked.
'Not once I use this!' Dr. Dred pulled out a brand new invention.
Mummy-Man mumbled out a question.
'What is it, Mummy-Man?' Dr. Dred responded. 'It is an Animal Giganticiser. It will turn any animal up to ten times its normal size.'
:[
Howard leaned on the edge of the wolf enclosure, smiling lightly.
The alpha was watching him suspiciously. No doubt he could smell the wolf on Howard. Vince had once told him he carried around a constant smell of a wet dog. It turned into a full wolfy smell when he transformed. At long as he stayed out of the marked territory, though, it would be no problem.
Vince and Frank were across at the lion enclosure.
'Doesn't that freak you out?' Jess Brenton's voice came from behind him.
Howard turned his head. 'Not really. Where are your friends?'
'Bird enclosure,' Jess said, walking over to look at the wolves too.
'Don't like birds?' Howard guessed.
Jess pulled a face. 'It's not that.' She didn't elaborate. Instead she changed the subject. 'I don't see how you can be friends with someone like Vince.'
'Well, he's my brother,' Howard said. He wasn't saying anymore than that. Mostly because he didn't actually understand why Jess had such an intense dislike for Vince. But, oh well. No everybody would like you. Most people thought Howard hung around Vince and Frank for protection.
Jess was likely to come to the same conclusion, in the end. Howard was skinny and the shortest of the group. He dressed like a slob, he stammered when he got nervous, and he was very book-smart. Vince had popularity, good looks, and charisma. Frank had size and strength, and could be "suggested" into getting angry. It was a pretty easy conclusion to come to, and one that most people could understand.
'Really?' Jess asked.
'Practically.'
Jess gave a dry chuckle. 'I suppose so.' Shaking her head, she went off to find her friends.
Howard grinned and shook his own head, before going to do the same.
He'd just found them when a strange noise hit his ears. It was loud and high-pitched. Howard slapped his hands over his ears and doubled over. Spinning, he looked up to see something horrifying. With a cry of alarm, she stumbled back. Vince ran past him and stopped a few steps in front of him.
'Elephants ain't supposed to be that big, are they?' Frank asked, sounding just as nervous as Howard felt.
'No, Frank,' Vince said. 'They're not.'
At that moment, the elephant was joined in gigantism by the other elephants. All of them seemed to panic.
There was a loud snapping sound, and they all tumbled.
