Thanks go to 10burgers, Wingah, Doctah Sawbones, Zack Frost, GMLxAwesome, XelaZagity, Eternal7, acoolnamme, EpicSlayerGuy99, and Prominent!
Glad to see everyone talking about their shared love for Xander in the reviews! Certainly none of you hope to see bad things happen to him! Anyway, happy DoubleDay! I think you'll like this chapter, I know I sure do. The next chapter will go up Thursday, October 13th!
Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
. . .
For several unbearably long seconds, Fortune Manor was completely silent. The light of Xander's lighter glinted in Killer's scarlet eyes while he leaned his head back just a little. He stared at Xander, and Xander stared at him... And then he smiled. His lips peeled back and he barred ghoulish fangs in a way that was nothing like Xander's comforting, trustworthy smile. And then, in a tone now cheery, The Killer exclaimed. "You remembered!"
"I could not have forgotten even if I'd wanted to." Xander assured without breaking eye contact. Killer was happy to see that, so many were afraid to look him in the eye. That smile melted from Xander's face after Killer took a few steps back, receding back into the shadows just outside of that lighter's dim orange glow. "Now, if you'd like to talk more about that game you mentioned before, I don't believe my father will be interrupting us this time."
"It'd be real scary if he did." Killer's glowing red eyes widened right with his smile, those were the only features Xander could make out from where he lurked in The Dark. His words dripped out of the shadows, hit the floor and squirmed closer... "Congratulations, by the way. Your father sure did get out of your way quick, didn't he, prince?"
"..." Xander's jaw tightened, he felt something itch behind his forehead. A little flame, a tight bottle with his anger compressed inside creaked and groaned, but he ignored it. The light of the television returned to The Dark, so Xander let his lighter flip shut and lowered his hand. Watching the unnatural figure in the shadows before him, he demanded answers. "You're still calling me a prince, but my father is gone. Doesn't that make me king?"
"Oh come on now, haven't you been doing your research?" Killer's hand reached out of The Dark, just to gesture into the dim blue light of the television and news reports nearly two decades old. "Do you honestly believe your father was Fortune City's king?"
Slowly, Xander's eyes drifted to the television. A sea of people flooded the streets, and they all parted around one young man. Encircled A on the back of his leather jacket and crowbar in his hand, straight white hair fell around his face in the whipping winds. Spotlights were on the young Killer marching towards the steps before him, steps that Arthur Fortune stood waiting at the top of. Xander squinted at the sight; he already knew how that story ended.
"I crushed the crown while you were still swimming in your daddy's ballsack, boy." Hand receding back into The Dark, Killer's head tilted forward and his wicked smile disappeared back into the shadows along with most of his form. He was this otherworldly presence, hardly tangible at all without a light on him. "And a Killer's ruled this city ever since."
"... If my lineage doesn't make me a prince in those twisted eyes of yours, then what does?" Xander's violet stare drifted back to the glowing red orbs in The Dark, and once more he could see that pearly white piano grin in the shadows. He figured he must've asked the right question.
"All this time studying my city, and you still haven't put it together?" Killer's head tilted, those eyes narrowed some while that grin widened. The TV screamed with the chanting of a different age, a generation passed cried out once more for anarchy. "Money can't make you king, Xander. The only way to forge your crown is by winning my game."
"But what is your game?" Xander dared demand to know. His hands balled into fists at his sides, he tried his best to ignore the cold sweat on his forehead.
"Figuring that out is half the game, boy." Killer answered without actually answering, and Xander nearly groaned with frustration. But, ultimately, not murdering him was about the most helpful a Killer had ever been to a Fortune. Still Xander opened his mouth to press for more answers, but The Killer spoke first. "I wouldn't worry about that, though. You're running out of time."
"Time until what..?" Xander felt a spike of fear in his heart, but still he held his ground. He could feel his pulse pounding in each of his vitals, it was a reminder of all the places Killer could rip open to kill him. His fingers wrapped tight around the lighter in his hand...
"Until the piggies arrive, of course." Killer explained like it was obvious, but Xander just looked even more confused. The police? Xander was rich, he had no reason to fear the cops. They worked for his side of the fence. Seeing the lack of understanding on Xander's face, Killer cleared a few things up. "Oh, right, I didn't tell you. See, I'm here because your uncle hired me to kill you."
"What..?!" Xander recoiled. His thoughts drifted back to that slime, that worm. That spineless coward Nicholas, was he really so desperate for money that he did not deserve that he would make a deal with the devil?! If Xander ever saw him again he would..! Xander grit his teeth, tilted his head and reeled in his anger.
"Yeah, he gave me a big suitcase'a cash. Something something "only the down payment" something "three times this amount after Xander dies and I get the money" something something "no one will suspect me to be the mastermind if you're the one who kills him"." Killer rolled his eyes and made a circular gesture with his hand while he prattled off details. He went through the motions describing details that he believed to be bland, before adding on. "Little does he know, I only took the job so we could have this little chat. I already threw all the money at different groups of bums and watched them fight over it. Hilarious pass time by the way - you should try it."
"That doesn't explain why the police are coming or why I have to run." Xander kept his focus on the task at hand no matter how hard Killer tried to distract him with nonsense details. That's what Killer liked about him, he was so focused. So about his business. A great player in his game, Killer was certain. "And if I really am running low on time, I would suggest you cut to the chase."
"Your uncle's got the piggies in his pockets, too. They'll be here in a few minutes to find your corpse and dramatically announce that The Ivory Ghoul has slain a Fortune yet again. And if they find you alive, they'll probably just kill you themselves." After Killer finished his sentence, his hand jutted out of The Dark and nearly made Xander jump. It didn't grab him, though. Instead, it offered him a little slip of paper. One that Xander skeptically reached out and took, dared to look over... An address? "Go there, you'll find someone suited to get you out of this mess. Gather a team, little prince. If this is your castle, then you're gonna have to fight for it."
"Mound Boulevard..?" Xander muttered under his breath, narrowing his eyes down at the paper and trying to read its words in the dim lighting. He looked back up into the glowing red stare looming over him, "That's Dead Street."
"You'll find good company in the strangest places, little prince." Killer smiled, half lidded eyes watching Xander carefully. He started to step back, and his unnatural outline almost seemed to disappear as he sunk into The Dark. "They'll be here any minute. They'll see you if you leave through the front or in your car, I suggest you use the ladder I left for you."
Xander watched Killer disappear into The Dark, before once more looking to the paper he'd been given. Could he really find someone worthwhile on that graveyard of a street? Could he really trust a word out of a Ghoul's mouth?
I would have died if I didn't.
Chapter 91: The Fortunate Son
Part 2
Or: To Forge A Crown And Earn A Throne
A little Fortune City lore for you: Dead Street is a road in the slums that went entirely empty overnight. Formerly named Mound Boulevard for the hill at the end of the road, which housed an orphanage, the denizens of Dead Street all went to bed one night and were found beaten to death the next morning. From every orphan and caretaker in that orphanage all the way to the houses at the end of the street, they were all slaughtered somewhere between sunset and sunrise.
Tucking his chin into his collar, Xander hastily made his way down the cracked sidewalks. It'd been a shit show, escaping out of his own home down a ladder and having to climb his own fence onto the side of the fence that he was never meant to see. He didn't have anything to protect himself from whatever thugs he may bump into and he didn't have his wallet on him. For the first time in his life, Xander was flat broke and defenseless.
Though his first rampage wouldn't officially begin for a few more years, what happened on Dead Street is theorized to be the first crime of The Ivory Ghoul. Due to the mystery surrounding the gruesome tragedy that befell dozens of people that night, no one ever returned to Dead Street. It's been somewhere around thirty years now, and all those houses remain boarded up. The orphanage on the hill is still draped in faded yellow tape, and its shadow stretches over all the abandoned homes.
The dethroned prince paused briefly in front of a window, taking a moment to glance through the glass at the TVs on the other side. News reports... "Xander Fortune gone missing, Ivory Ghoul suspected" "Three more found dead this morning, blunt force trauma and bite marks" "Money going missing? ATMs emptying and bank accounts being hacked". Did it always feel like the world was ending on this side of the fence?
The homeless won't even seek shelter in those abandoned homes. Everyone looks at Dead Street like Fortune City's scary basement or attic, and they all seem to have silently agreed that it's where The Ivory Ghoul must lurk. Well, all but The Jade Cat and her protégé.
Xander had to spend a full night and a full day wandering Fortune City's brutal streets with nothing to guide him but that slip of paper the Ghoul had handed him. At least the news reports he happened to catch confirmed Killer's words and his uncle's treachery, if that could really be considered good news. But with his face on the news, Xander had to keep his head low. Duck into alleys, through bushes, crawl in the dirt... He'd never had to experience such filth before.
It made me feel alive.
But, finally, late on his second night in this concrete jungle, he came upon Dead Street. After the sun went down, everyone but him had found somewhere to hide. Doors slammed, windows locked. Those without a home to hide in put out their trashcan fires, they tucked themselves away in the smallest corners they could find. It sent a chill up Xander's spine, contemplating the horrors they all hid from. Every darkened window felt like an eye watching him while he wandered under those street lamps, he felt he could have been the last man alive.
That chill nearly froze his blood once he finally looked upon the faded, spray painted sign. "Mound Boulevard" had been painted over with the words "TURN BACK". Exhaling quietly, Xander reached into his pocket and retrieved one of the cigarettes he'd been rationing as well as his lighter. He glanced past the sign and up the slow incline of the cracked and overgrown sidewalks. Dark house after dark house, boarded up windows and unkempt lawns. All leading up to the end of the street, where that orphanage loomed.
Inhaling the grey fog of his cigarette, Xander forced himself to step forward. His feet touched concrete that had not been walked on in years, and his eyes remained locked on that looming building. The moon floated far behind it, casting its long shadow down the road. In that moment, that broken down, taped up orphanage seemed big enough to loom over all of Fortune City.
I glanced between the paper in my hand and every dark corner about a thousand times while I walked. The street lamps didn't turn on anymore, and every bump in the night had me convinced something was going to sprint out of The Dark at me. But, nothing ever did. Dead Street was just that, dead.
Eventually, I made it to the address I was looking for. The mailbox was sinking into the ground and slanted and two of the numbers had fallen off. But, the real trouble was figuring out where ruins ended and home began. See, just walking into the home wasn't enough. Inside I would find a home abandoned decades ago, just like all the rest. But after an hour or two of snooping around, I stumbled upon a shed in the backyard. The shed had been thrown up around a cellar door, it held nothing else. I made my way down into the cellar, and there in that basement I actually found something of a home. It was a genius hiding spot, I thought. Hidden away where no one would ever think to look. I'm still not sure how the Ghoul knew about it.
After that, I sat and I waited. Dozed off in the chair a few times, but every bump in the night woke me back up. I had no idea who's home I was in after all, or how they would react to finding me here. But the cellar door had been hastily tossed open and left that way, it seemed that whoever lived here had quickly left just a little while before I had arrived. Lights were left on, a few doors in the home were still ajar... You've probably already heard that part of the story from Lexi, haven't you? Then you know what happens next.
Click!
Xander flicked in the lamp beside him after hearing footsteps make their way down the basement stairs. he could see someone, the outline of a woman in the dim lighting. As soon as the lights flashed, one disheveled young lady was revealed to him. Hunched with exhaustion, bags under her eyes, bloodstains on her clothes. Lexi The Predator only started to look alive when she realized there was an intruder in her home. She instantly ripped the pistol off her hip, and suddenly Xander had a barrel pointed at his head.
"Now now!" Xander spoke hastily, holding his hands up over his head to indicate that he was not a threat. Outside of that, he did not move. Perfectly still and perfectly calm, his perfect smile slowly crept up his face. And Lexi furrowed her brows, ignoring the tired pleas from her exhausted mind body and soul for just a moment. Xander's smile widened, and he shifted his head some, turning the other cheek to further prove his innocence and raising his eyebrows like he was getting ready to pitch some idea.
"... Hear me out."
You've seen plenty of how I made nice with The Predator and The Anarchist, I needn't go into any further detail. The real trouble was finding our forth member.
"Here, this is all the first aid I could find." Lexi explained while she set two armfuls of bandaging, alcohol and ointments on her kitchen counter. There was some medication for fevers and infections mixed in, too. Anarchy didn't look particularly excited, but he did look to her from beneath the strands of white hair dangling in front of his face and nod his thanks.
Xander paced with thought in the living room while Anarchy peeled off his filthy shirt. He tossed it aside, and Lexi and Xander both found themselves pausing to stare at the injuries he'd hidden beneath. Dark colored bruises on skin that was sucked tight to wiry muscles. Scars from wounds that had healed and greenish scabs from wounds that hadn't. A few of those cuts and gashes were oozing pus or blood, and Anarchy fearlessly dumped a handful of rubbing alcohol into his hand and then slapped that hand onto one of those gashes.
"... Doesn't that, hurt?" Lexi asked after a moment of silence. She was visibly cringing; Anarchy hadn't winced even one time as he shoved burning disinfectant into one of the stinging gashes on his side. The Anarchist didn't say a word, he just lifted his head enough to look at her from under his eyebrows. Then, he cracked a smile and giggled a little. Lexi grimaced; that was answer enough.
Xander wasn't focusing on Anarchy's fascinating pain tolerance or peculiar manner of articulation. He was a Ghoul, and something about the honesty in the way Anarchy carried himself was more comforting than his father's uncanny, monster-in-the-shape-of-man presence. Anarchy was very straight forward about the kind of creature that he was, Xander believed. If he was going to kill someone, that person would know the moment eye contact was made. The Killer took joy in luring people in, tricking them to drop their guard or paralyzing them and then striking. The Anarchist, Xander hypothesized, preferred the chase.
Regardless, Anarchy was already on Xander's team. Banged up as he was, the son of The Killer would be perhaps the most poetic soldier Xander could sic on his uncle, and he had absolutely no doubts in Anarchy's capacity for murder despite his ailments. Now, the question was how Xander could get The Anarchist and The Predator inside that mansion. Knowing Xander had escaped and The Killer was at large, there was no doubt in his mind that his uncle had repaired the security systems The Ghoul had broken and also likely had guards posted in every nook and cranny. There was no way the three of them could just barge back in under those conditions...
"Terror on the rise today as reports of fried security systems, emptied ATMs and identity theft pour in alongside the Ghouls murders." The television's words shook Xander from his thoughts, his eyes were drawn to the screen. The haggard news anchor went on while the little screen beside her head displayed strange plastic devices with all sorts of circuits in them being pulled off of card readers at gas pumps and ATMs. "Field reporter Willy Dickson caught up with one furious shopkeeper. Willy, can you shed some light on this story for us?"
Xander listened with intent to the grubby man snarling into a news reporter's microphone. Something about all his electronics being fried and his electronic safe being popped open and empty when he returned to his shop in the morning. This had Xander holding his chin and furrowing his brows. He'd written off the reports of hacking the first few times he'd heard them, thought it had something to do with faulty technology and people falling for scam emails or something. But, now that he thought about it, it all seemed so... Local. So specific...
The moment the news brought up a quick map of which areas had been hit, Xander hastily reached out and grabbed the remote off the couch cushion it had been laying on. He paused the screen, took a few long moments to analyze it, before quickly scurrying off to the room at the other end of the basement. His hasty steps caught the attention of The Predator and The Anarchist, who both turned their heads to see the now forever unlocked door to Jade's study be thrown open. Lexi was the first to chase, after him, scolding while she did. "Ay! Easy on the door!"
Once Lexi rushed into the room, she found Xander hunched once more over the massive map laid out across the table. Pins and red string connected The Killer's favored locations, those had been mapped ages ago by Lexi's late mother and mentor. Blue strings had been added to the map by Xander and Lexi, that was the map of Anarchy's traveling patterns and how they had managed to find him. But now, Xander was hastily circling the areas reporting fried electronics and theft with a pencil. This hardly sat well with Lexi, who tossed her hands up in the air. "And quit drawing on Jade's map!"
"I sincerely doubt she will mind." Xander answered without much thought. He was far too preoccupied putting together pieces that Lexi didn't see; he didn't hear her irritated growl or see her start to roll up her sleeves to punch him out. But, just after Lexi started taking steps towards Xander, a third head poked into the little room and pondered all that it held.
"... Huh." Anarchy muttered while his scarlet eyes scanned the news reports over the walls. Lexi spun around to face him and froze when she saw his eyes on the photo of his father on the far wall. Two darts were stuck in The Killer's photographed face, one in his cheek and the other in his forehead. Several holes were left in the picture from where Lexi had pitched other darts... Anarchy started walking towards the picture, and Predator was grimacing. What was his relationship with his father, exactly? Would this piss him off?
With two thunks, Anarchy yanked the darts out of his father's photo. This hardly eased Lexi's anxiety, and she watched with baited breath as The Anarchist wandered back towards her... Before spinning around. He chucked those darts back at his dad's image on the wall, and with two more thunk!s, each dart found a home in The Killer's respective pupils. Anarchy cracked a smile, and Lexi sighed with relief when she heard a raspy laugh echo out of his throat.
"Alright, I'm heading out." Xander suddenly announced, drawing her attention back to him. He was in the middle of grabbing a bag and a pistol to hide it in from one of the table's lining the walls. His hurry only confused Lexi further.
"Heading out where, exactly?" She furrowed her brows incredulously, but didn't opt to stop him. Instead, she walked to where he'd stood and looked over the map on the table. Eugh, he'd scribbled all over this section! Little stores circled, lines connecting them... Wait, why did so many of the lines cross through the cemetery?
"I'm off to Gather up a new friend." Xander flashed his perfect smile over his shoulder at his two acquaintances. Anarchy wasn't looking though, he was too busy looking over the pictures and newspaper clippings strung up on the walls.
"... How much space does he think I've got down here?" Lexi's shoulders sunk after Xander disappeared from the doorway. She grumbled under her breath, "Friggin' rich kid..."
I made my way to the cemetery while the sun was still up. If I waited another day, there would be a chance that this Hacker would make his escape. He was clearly gathering up as much money as possible as fast as possible, and that told me whoever he was he wanted out of Fortune City fast. I knew if I missed this opportunity I would never be king, but if I had known just who I would be inviting into my ranks... Well, hindsight is a bitch.
Hidden mostly in his trench coat, Angel knelt before his grandmother's grave. He could never stick around for long, but that was fine. Granny wasn't much for conversation these days. So, without a word, Angel reached into his coat and carefully pulled out another bouquet of flowers. It was the least he could do for her now. Soon enough he would escape this city, and he'd never be able to visit her again.
The crunching of the dry and dying grass caught Angel's attention, and he felt a frown dig deep into his face when a shadow dropped over him. Turning his head, he spotted not a parent or a police officer or even a Ghoul, but instead a face he didn't think he would ever see again. Xander The Gatherer flashed Angel The Hacker his perfect smile, and it made Angel's glare lighten up some. The dethroned heir spoke first, "What a pleasant surprise! I didn't think you would be the one I would find here."
"... Xander Fortune." Angel spoke after a pause. Keeping his trench coat closed, he stood slowly to his full height. Standing just an inch or two taller than Xander, he turned to face The Gatherer. His green eyes were even more dull than they had been before as they looked Xander up and down, before once more meeting that PERSERVERANT stare. "Rumor has it, you're dead."
"I don't deal in rumor and innuendo. I deal in cold hard cash." Xander assured, his smile never faltering all the while. But, his eyes did narrow some, and Angel watched him carefully. "And if the rumor's I've heard are true? Then I believe you're the same way, Hacker."
"Hacker? That's an interesting thing to call a stranger." Angel blinked those lightless eyes, but he didn't react to Xander's words. He lied perfectly, but Xander had been around plastic people his entire life. He knew more about dishonesty than anyone on this honest side of the fence ever could. "Not sure what you're insinuatin', but you're right about one thing. I do like cash."
"I'll cut to the chase, because you strike me as a man who values his time." Xander spoke, ever calm and ever collected. His hands remained folded behind his back, but his smile faded to an expression more telling of the indignation stewing within. "My Fortune has been stolen from me."
"By The Ghoul?" Angel cocked a brow. He tilted his head to one side, his hands in his coat pockets.
"By my scoundrel of an uncle." Xander corrected with a furious smile. Behind his back, his hands curled into fists. His forehead ached... But he reeled it in. Took a deep breath, focused on the task at hand. "I've gathered a small team to right this wrong and punish my uncle. A Predator, an Anarchist... But I need a Hacker."
"Un huh." Angel nodded like he was listening to an interesting story, but they both knew it was a sale's pitch. Plausible deniability, too, was something the both of them clearly understood. Angel shrugged, "And, lets say I know a guy with the skillset you're lookin' for. What kinda pay should he be expecting?"
"Unfortunately I can't offer anything up front. But once I have my money back? Something with seven figures." Xander assured while he straightened his back. He flashed his perfect smile once more, and Angel rose his eyebrows. He nodded his head and considered, and Xander pressed on. "I need reliable people, now more than ever. If you help me now, then you will always have a friend in the Fortune Foundation."
Angel pursed is lips. He furrowed his brows, continued to mull Xander's offer over. Money was important, it was his way out. And from the sounds of things, just one job could launch him out of this shithole. Combined with the money he'd already stolen... He reached into his jacket, hastily retrieving an old flip phone and tossing it over to Xander. The Gatherer quickly unfolded one hand from behind his back and caught the phone, and The Hacker explained. "Use that to contact The Hacker within the next 24 hours. Don't keep them waiting."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Xander assured with a smile. Then, he stepped forward and outstretched his hand to this new ally. "It's been a pleasure."
"Here's to showing the other side'a the fence a little rain." Angel smirked, taking his own step. He reached forward, took Xander's hand in his own, and they shook on their deal.
... Hindsight is a bitch.
After contacting The Hacker, everything went into motion with shocking quickness. I'd learn soon after we moved into the mansion together that Angel was not only a prodigy behind a screen, he also had an incredible knack for robotics, engineering, anything that involved him taking wires and metal and making something of substance. The fried electronics that the news had reported had been from EMP bombs Angel had learned how to build. When I asked him how, he answered with something along the lines of "The internet has all the information in the world, even the shit nobody wants you to learn."
He knew all sorts of things, had plenty of little gadgets put together from electronics he'd stolen and torn apart. He provided us with a few walkie-talkies and then a few little devices for scrambling all radio frequencies but the one the walkie-talkies were on. Though we could have just used his EMPs on the entire mansion, I didn't want to destroy all electronics in my own home. So, instead, The Predator would have to get to the main power grid and the main hub for the security system and all other electronics linked together in my mansion. She'd plug some memory stick looking thing into the grid to inject The Hacker into my home's technology. From there, Hacker would shut off the lights and shut security down. Then, The Anarchist would be unleashed on Fortune Manor.
"Think ya can gimme a boost big guy?" The Predator flashed Anarchy a smirk, and he grinned in return. It had been a few days since he'd killed anyone, and his entire body was itching. His skin crawled with withdrawals, his crowbar ached for blood. It was a dark night, a very Dark night.
So, eager to get this going, he made his way to the shadowed portion of the fence at the far end of the yard, where he, The Predator and The Gatherer had all gathered. Lexi took a few steps back while he lowered his stance and held his hands together out in front of him. Then, she sprinted towards him, hastily jumping with one foot into the hands he held together. The moment she had stepped into his palm, Anarchy stood up straight and yanked his hands right up over his head, launching Predator up and over the fence.
Lexi flipped in air, sailing right over those golden rungs and landing crouched in the perfectly maintained grass. Most of her body hidden inside her cloak right with the scythe on her back, she darted forward and started her sprint across the lawn towards Xander's home. Xander watched with one hand brought to his lips, anxiously chewing on his thumbnail. This was the most important part of the plan; if The Predator failed then they were all screwed.
But, much to the relief of Xander, he watched Lexi sprint right up to the lowest hanging part of the roof. It was an overhang in the garden, right above a little patio. she jumped, planted her foot on one of the wayward chairs and launched from it towards the roof. In that same motion, she yanked her scythe from her back and swung it up at the edge of the overhang. The point of her blade hooked around the ledge, and keeping her momentum, Lexi swung right up onto the roof.
Once there, she laid flat for a second. Didn't make a move, and instead waited for the flashlight beam of the guard below to pass through the patio. The footsteps faded out... And she sprung back to life. Immediately jumping and using her scythe to hook onto the next section of the roof and swing herself up onto one of the ledges of the second floor, she ran right towards another wall and jumped, planting one foot in it and springing herself up towards a window. She swung her scythe, hooked its blade on the shingled overhang above the dark window and dangled there. Then, while swinging her feet to build up momentum again, she reached forward and grabbed the window, pulling it open. Then, she swung herself into the shadows of the empty third floor halls, shutting the window behind her.
"... Ay, am I hallucinating, or is that bitch a ninja?" Anarchy said after a shared moment of stunned silence. He leaned over towards Xander while he spoke, pointing one finger through the fence towards the walls Predator had scaled.
"She definitely is, but I also wouldn't rule out hallucinations if I were you." Xander leaned some towards Anarchy while he responded, his own eyes not leaving the mansion. That response got The Bastard Son laughing, and he slapped Xander on the back with enough force to make him stumble a step or two forward.
For a few long minutes Lexi The Predator navigated the halls. The mansion was large, the hallways wound and blended together in a way that Lexi only had experience with in the abandoned, half constructed buildings she had learned how to be an acrobat in. She stuck to the shadows, popped in and out of empty rooms and moved in absolute silence. She had to hide in a closet and duck behind a few couches and tables, but eventually she found herself descending the steps into a basement far more spacious than the one she'd been raised in.
On her tiptoes Predator made her way across the dark basement, straining her eyes to make out shapes in the pitch black darkness. She had to strain her brain too, force herself to remember the exacts of the layout Xander had given her of the basement. But, after another moment or two of fumbling through the dark, she eventually found a small side room and flicked on the light inside. That made her wince, but after a quick scan of the basement to assure she was still alone, she looked back to the panels on the wall.
"Alright, Hacker. I'm here." With one hand, Predator held her walkie-talkie up to the side of her head. With the other, she was holding that almost-a-USB-stick-almost-a-fuse that Hacker would use like a remote once inserted... Somewhere? "Where do I stick this thing, exactly?"
"Any port ya find after you open the fuse box will work." Hacker's distorted voice answered through the communicator. Predator shrugged at that, before carefully reaching out to the wall mounted box and pulling open the two little doors protecting all the wires and switches inside.
"So this is how the other side lives..." Lexi found herself muttering while she looked at the expansive electrical box. She'd had to fiddle with the main fuse box of her own little home a number of times, but it didn't look anything like this... So many switches, so many wires. Finally, she just grabbed one of the fuses in the box and yanked it out, hastily replacing it with the one Hacker had given her. She grinned when it clicked into place, pushing the button on her communicator again and once more speaking into it. "Alright, Hacker. Say the line."
There was a pause. A few seconds of unanswered silence... And then the lights went out. Not just in the basement, but outside. Upstairs. The entire Manor went dark. And as the mansion's entire interconnected sound system started to hum with the opening notes of Ballroom Blitz by Sweet, the walkie-talkie croaked and Hacker's distorted voice spoke through it for the entire team to hear.
"I'm in."
"What in the..?" The officer stationed at the front door flinched when the lights suddenly shut off. He furrowed his brows and turned his head back towards the building, but his eyes were only met with more Darkness. The only light he had now was the dim moon and starlight trickling in through the overcast sky, and that left him wincing and trying to make out any shape within five feet of him. He leaned into the radio on his shoulder, "Hey, what's going on with the power?"
Krrrrcccchhh...
He furrowed his brows and rubbed his bald head at the incomprehensible response his walkie-talkie gave him. The static hiss remained as he heard something clink and roll across the ground, and his eyes glossed down the stone path ahead of him to see a strange little device rolling towards him. It looked like an egg made out of scrap metal with a little antenna on top of it... Was that what was scrambling communications? Were they under attack?!
As Ballroom Blitz began to echo through the walls behind him, the crooked officer lifted his eyes to look down the path and he froze when he spotted glowing red eye staring back at him. Suddenly, there was no metal egg. There was no path, there was no mansion. It was just him, in a pitch black void, with those beady red eyes.
"You know how long it's been since I've had pork, little piggy?" Anarchy's gravely voice echoed out of The Dark, and that crooked cop felt tremors run through his body. His mind was split, half focused on replaying every horrific crime scene he'd seen The Ghoul leave behind and half focused on trying to get his shaky hand to the holster on his hip. As those red eyes got closer and closer, and The Dark gripped him tighter and tighter, it was all the Fortune City pig could do to grab ahold of his pistol and start to yank it out of its holster. A shadowed figure lunged out of The Dark, "Oink oink!"
The first thing he felt was his fingers being shattered apart and that gun being whacked out of his hand by the cruel strike of The Anarchist's crowbar. Next was feeling one powerful hand grab the wrist of the hand he was desperately trying to throw up to defend himself, and finally with a vicious snarl he felt fangs latch onto his throat and some unstoppable force crash into him.
The poor officer choked and gargled on blood as Anarchy's fangs shredded his throat, the weight of the second generation Ghoul keeping him pinned to the ground while his life was torn away from him. After a few quick seconds for Anarchy and slow ones for the officer, The Anarchist threw his head back and sat up straight, sending his hair and a few drops of blood flicking away from his face. He lifted his communicator to his head with his clean hand while he licked blood off his other, "Mmmn, yard's clear! I'm heading inside."
"Careful." Hacker's voice answered The Anarchist, but the Bastard Son grabbed his crowbar and wandered with limp swinging arms up towards the front door regardless. "Cameras show two more guards heading towards the front door."
Anarchy marched right up to the door as if he was about to enter, before suddenly swinging his body to the side. A moment later, the door blasted open and flashlights cut through The Dark. The first officer spotted their fellow goon flat on his back with a mutilated throat, and he froze. This gave Anarchy the opportunity to kick the door full force into the one trying to make his way through the doorway behind him, cracking the mahogany into his forehead and sending him tumbling onto his hands and knees.
The first paid guard spun around just in time to catch Anarchy's crowbar with his temple, and a sickening crunch preceded his twitching body crumbling onto the wooden landing before the front door. The second grunt was reaching for the gun he'd dropped when the door hit him, but Anarchy kicked it so hard that it slid across the landing and dropped over the side. This prompted the officer to look up at the Ivory Ghoul grinning down at him, and he raised his hands up over his head and begged while Anarchy threw that crowbar up over his own head. "W-wait! Wait-!"
Crack! Crack! Crack crack crack!
Anarchy giggled uncontrollably while he wacked his fellow man over and over again. Metal split skin split bone split brain, and that crooked deputy did not move again. Blood spattered up his cheek and still dripping down his chin and his crowbar, Anarchy turned those glowing red eyes into the open doorway and through the dark home. His smile ripped his face in two, and he sauntered inside while he hummed along to Ballroom Blitz.
"Freeze!" A voice called from the other side of the room the moment a flashlight landed on The Anarchist, but before any bullet could be fired or crowbar could be swung, Predator dropped down from the banister above and crashed feet first into the back of the officer's head. He crumbled, spiked flat on his face into the wood floor and stopped moving immediately. Lexi didn't know whether he was unconscious or dead, and she didn't care. She just looked over to Anarchy, who's feet were visible in the beam of that dropped flashlight but upper body was encased in Darkness. That red glow in his eyes really made him look like his father, but hopefully that would just give them another advantage over the guard pigs.
"I'm gonna grab Gatherer's squatter uncle!" Lexi The Predator called out to Anarchy, who kept smiling as he nodded his head. She couldn't see it in the dark, but he was licking blood off his chin with his freakish tongue. "You, keep..! Handling, the guards!"
"Aye aye, cap'n!" Anarchy's chest vibrated with euphoric giggling while he saluted Predator. She gulped some, before jumping and hooking her scythe on the staircase railing, flipping halfway up the steps. By the time she was at the top of the steps she could already hear shouting and laughing below, but no gun ever got the chance to be fired. Poor bastards were trapped in The Dark with a Ghoul, they didn't stand a chance.
Stomaching the screams and the laughter wasn't exactly easy for Lexi, she hadn't been exposed to death like this before. But, Fortune City elites were corrupt. The police in this city all killed and they all took blood money. They were all in on the plan to murder a sixteen year old boy, after all. So, as far as The Predator was concerned, Anarchy's crowbar couldn't be in a better place than their heads.
As she ran down the hall, another flashlight pointed out from one of the empty rooms right in front of her, and Predator didn't hesitate to jump, kick off the wall, and blast a kick into the side of the officer's head. He tumbled right over the banister, plummeting down below into where Anarchy lurked. After that, it was on to the master bedroom.
No longer trying to conceal her movement, Predator's feet could be heard pounding towards that shut door before her brutal kick blasted it in. The lock snapped and the hinges groaned as the wood flung inward, and the first thing Lexi spotted was a wide open window. Her eyes widened, watching the blinds flutter in the cool late night breeze. She cussed while she ran towards the window, "Shit!"
Almost instantly she was at the window, frantically peering over it to hopefully spot the escaping thief. Luckily a quick peak out the window was the only reminder she needed that they were on the third floor, and when she looked straight down she spotted the pathetic sight that was Nicholas. The gutter's drain pipe laid broken beside him, Predator figured he'd tried to climb down it. Now, poor uncle Nick laid writhing on his back, crying out in agony while he held his limp leg at its shattered knee.
Lexi The Predator sighed with some relief, folding her arms over the windowsill and leaning on it. She brought her walkie-talkie to her ear, pushed in its button and spoke. "Found your uncle, Gatherer. He ain't goin' anywhere any time soon."
"Pretty sure the house is just about cleared!" Anarchy's giddy voice answered first. It sounded like his mouth was half full. "Just this dipshit hiding behind the table who thinks I can't see him!"
Lexi looked over her shoulder when she heard someone scream in the kitchen, followed immediately by Anarchy's shrieking cackle. She blinked a few times and shook her head, and The Hacker chimed in over the walkie-talkie. "Anarchy's right - that was the last of them."
"Perfect." Gatherer's voice answered next. Lexi could hear his smile in his voice. "I'm heading inside. Bring my uncle downstairs, he and I are going to have a discussion."
Was I worried I would fail? Of course. But the team I had assembled executed my plan perfectly. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, so efficient. My entire home had been reclaimed in less than an hour. I knew right then and there that I couldn't possibly let go of them, I knew they were my keys to the kingdom. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You're probably wondering what happened to my dear uncle, yes?
When Nicholas awoke from the silence he'd been thumped into by the handle of The Predator's scythe, He found his ankles tied to the legs of a chair and his left hand cuffed to the table he'd been laying his face on. When he first woke up, his movements were slow and groggy. But, once it started to register where he was, he got jumpy. Struggled, pulled on his restraints, and cried out when his movements agitated his ballooning, shattered knee.
Quickly Nicholas looked right across the table, spotting a perfectly clean Xander Fortune. The Gatherer wore one of the nice suits from his closet, His hair was slicked back and his face was without blemish. With a cigarette already in his mouth unlit, Gatherer cracked a smile. "Good morning, uncle. How did you sleep?"
"Xander..?!" Nicholas choked out of a dry throat. He leaned back in his chair, but his hand remained chained to the table. His right hand, strangely enough, remained unbound. But, it wasn't enough to undo his bindings. Certainly not with his warden right across from him. "The Ghoul was supposed to kill you..! You should be dead!"
"Oh, Nick... Your plan was almost perfect." Xander squinted, lifting one hand to pinch his finger and thumb so close that they were almost touching. Then, while his other hand lifted his grandfather's lighter to the cigarette in his mouth, he leaned comfortably back in his chair. "But you trusted the wrong Ghoul. A mistake that a real Fortune like myself would never make, as you can see."
Nicholas furrowed his brows at those words, before he felt one powerful hand grab a fistful of his hair. Instantly another wave of cold sweat poured down his body, and with trembling eyes he looked slowly to see the blood crusted face staring at him from over his shoulder. While The Gatherer was perfectly cleaned and maintained, The Anarchist was still soaked in blood now dried. His crunchy hair was wild and unkempt, his eyes were wide and twitching with excitement, and his sharp fangs were still tinted red with the blood of those that Nicholas had in his pocket. While Nick stared into those horrifying scarlet orbs and Anarchy pressed the crusted curve of his crowbar to Nick's chin, The Gatherer introduced. "Filthy squatter, meet The Anarchist."
Nicholas tried to squeak something out, but Anarchy threw his head forward and sent his skull bouncing off the table with a crack! He slumped forward some after that, and Anarchy took his hands off the thief, letting him breathe while he rubbed his now pounding head. Gatherer took a long drag from his cigarette, and when Nick finally sat up he blew the grey smoke in his face. Nicholas winced at this, demanding to know. "... What do you want?"
"What do I want?" Gatherer repeated, raising his brows as though he was shocked. He placed his free hand on his chest and leaned his head forward some... Before he cracked the perfect smile that his mother and Nick's sister had taught him. "Oh, Nicholas... I already have everything I want."
"My home, my team, my family's Fortune." While Gatherer spoke, he gestured with his free hand out to the room around them. Nicholas followed his hand with his eyes, and it dawned on him that the both of them were surrounded by piles of money and sturdy walls. They were sitting inside the Fortune Family safe, where no one could hear any noise they made and no one would be able to come save him. Gatherer went on with a chuckle, "I even have my rat bastard uncle tied to a chair! I assure you, Nicholas, I'm on top of the world right now."
"See, Nicky baby, this isn't about what I wanted. No no, this is about what you wanted." Gatherer removed his cigarette from his mouth while he leaned back some in his chair, sighing and shaking his head. With that cancer stick between his fingers, he gestured out once more to the money that surrounded them. "All of this. Everything that I own, and you do not. You were willing to kill for it, and I pray you were willing to die for it."
"Xander, listen..!" Nicholas pleaded, and once more those unfeeling violet orbs landed on him. Trembling and sweating, the fake Fortune forced a nervous smile. "We can work this out! I-I can help you..!"
"That's sweet, Nick. Really, it is." Gatherer nodded his head. He brought his hand in, clasped it gently over the bottom half of his face and placed the filter of that cigarette between his lips again. Another short drag, the smoke of which he exhaled through his nose before pulling his cancer stick away from his mouth again. He winced and tilted his head then, as if delivering this bad news was somehow uncomfortable for him. "But, y'see, last time we saw each other, I promised I'd fuckin' kill you if you crossed me. And, unlike you, I'm a man of my word."
"Gimme another chance!" Nick folded his hands on the table and bowed his head. He groveled and begged, said a few more things but Gatherer wasn't really listening. He nodded his head though, looked around the room and made eye contact with his semi-feral associate once or twice as if he was really considering. He brought that cigarette to his lips, took another short puff... And answered.
"... Oh, alright Nick. Since you're family." Gatherer conceded with the shrug of his shoulders, and some hope shined in his uncle's teary eyes. He lifted his head, and that light died right back out. Gatherer had reached under the table, grabbed a shined and clean revolver that Nicholas recognized. Just like Gatherer's lighter, that revolver has his grandfather's initials on it. Gatherer asked, "You ever heard of Russian Roulette, Nicky baby?"
Nicholas didn't answer, he was likely too busy trying not to puke. So, in the mean time, Gatherer spun the rotating chamber of that revolver. He felt its weight in one hand while he felt the fire of his cigarette in the other. His eyes darted back to his trembling coward of an uncle. "Y'know, my research told me grandpa Fortune used this thing to settle his disputes. When I found it in the safe with my newly reacquired cash, I thought it might help me handle this dispute."
Gatherer set the gun on the table, and he slid it across to his uncle. Suddenly, Nick knew exactly why he had one free hand. He was also very, very aware of the albino breathing down his neck. With a trembling hand he reached out, carefully taking that gun into his grasp and slowly lifting it from the table. He muttered fearfully... "... I-it, feels heavy..."
"Oh, yeah! I never actually checked how many bullets are in it!" Gatherer faked forgetfulness, gently pressing his palm to his forehead. Then, he shrugged and shook his head. "It might have no bullets in it, or it might be full! I guess it's just up to how grandpa Fortune left it, huh?"
"You're probably thinking "If it's full, I can kill Xander right now", right?" Gatherer asked after another few long seconds of quiet. Nick was too busy staring at the gun in his hand and swallowing with a dry mouth to look at his nephew, but Gatherer was sure he was listening to every word. "But, if you do that, Anarchy behind you there will bash your brain in with his crowbar."
"I guess you could try to shoot Anarchy first, but he's gonna see you turning around and boy is he quick!" Gatherer smiled and leaned forward on his elbows while he explained, nodding to agree with his own words. "Not to mention how hard it would be to get a clean shot on him, and one bullet's never been enough to kill a Ghoul before, has it Nicky baby?"
"And I mean, do you have any idea what I would have to do to you if you tried to shoot me and the gun turned out to be empty?" The smile melted off his face, and Gatherer tilted his head with his question. He took his cigarette between his teeth and added with a little chuckle, "I mean, at least if you accidentally blow your own head off it'll be quick."
"So, Nick, the way I see it? Your only chance here is to play the game. If you don't shoot yourself in the head, then pass the gun back to me. I'll check and make sure there's only one round in the thing, then I'll spin the chamber and try not to blow my own head off. " Gatherer inhaled a little more of his cancer stick. He leaned back in his chair and gave another shrug while he exhaled through his nose, "Whoever doesn't die gets the money, plain and simple. It's all up to however many bullets grandpa Fortune left in the gun when he died. In a way, it's like he's picking an heir all over again. But he didn't pick you last time, Nick. So what do you think your odds are now?"
"..." Nicholas paused for awhile. He stared at the gun in his hand, like he had been doing for minutes. He considered his options, but it was so hard to think with his pulse pounding in his ears. His mind drew back on all the days before this one, all the time he'd wasted to get himself into this chair. Then, finally, he looked up to Gatherer and whimpered. "... This game's rigged."
"Oh, Nicky baby..." Gatherer shook his head and clicked his tongue, as if he was disappointed by his uncle's lack of understanding. Then, once again, he leaned across the table and got right in Nick's face. And he whispered, "The game's always rigged, when you're against a rich man."
No more words were exchanged after that. It was clear to Nicholas there was no way but this one and it was clear to Gatherer he had won. So, the one true Fortune leaned back in his chair and got to work on finishing his cigarette while his sniveling uncle brought that trembling barrel to the side of his head. Seconds passed... Minutes passed... That whimpering got louder, Nick muttered some prayers to a god that would not bother listening to someone who'd sinned like he had. Then, finally, after one more pathetic sob...
BANG!
The barrel flare flashed in The Gatherer's uncaring eyes. Anarchy's own eyes widened, he titled his head like he was intrigued and he started to smile. Chunky red paint splattered across dollar bills. That gun tumbled to the floor, and what remained of Nicholas's face face planted on the table. Blood poured out of either side of that corpse's head, pooled on the table and trickled down onto the ground. Xander The Gatherer tilted his head back and exhaled the last of his cigarette's smoke up into the light looming overhead. Then, he pulled the still smoldering cigarette butt out of his jaws and leaned forward. He ground the burning filter into the back of Nick's head to put it out, and he left it tangled in his greasy hair.
Good choice, gramps.
After that, it was all about making connections. Keeping the other three around was easy, Anarchy and Predator didn't have anywhere else to go and Hacker was greedy. After I got the three of them to stick around, the first thing I had to do was contact the same... "Cleanup" service my grandfather had used back in his day. They were eager to be making money from a Fortune again, and they got all the pig blood out of my walls and floor. Made sure those bodies Anarchy left laying around were never found.
After that, it was off to the police station. Without any real government in Fortune City, the police were extra blunt about only protecting the interests of the rich. And with me being the richest man in Fortune City and Hacker giving me a portfolio full of all the officer's home addresses, they were pretty easily convinced I was in charge. Chief didn't mind, really. When I showed him the folder full of addresses, he smiled. Said he worked with my grandfather when he was still new to the force. Said he thought my grandpa would have liked me. I smiled back.
Then, it was on to the gangs outside the fence. Had to get some more blood on my hands for that, but oh well. Crack a few eggs and all that. After Anarchy made a few kingpins into red piles of meat and bone, the outside gangs started to come to terms with who signed their paychecks. If they worked with me, the police would leave them alone. They'd never have to worry about another Ghoul in the night again. Their family would be safe and secure, so long as they bent their knee to me. There was a new Fortune Foundation in town, and within a year everyone had either fallen in line or disappeared.
It took some time, and there were a few rough patches. A few cops who wanted to keep harassing the gangbangers under my protection, a few gangbangers who wanted to keep robbing stores with my insignia in the window. Some broken legs, some concrete shoes and some river swims gone wrong straightened them out.
... Do I regret it? Why would I? The city was safe with me in charge. No more crime, no more police brutality. Just business, one way or another. So long as everyone listened to me, everyone was safe and secure. I straightened out the chaos that The Ivory Ghoul plunged Fortune City into before I was born, me. Not Angel, not Lexi, Not Anthony. They can all play hero all they want, but the only safety in Fortune City and the only safety in this multiverse comes from uniting under my banner.
...
... They were my friends, you know. The first friends I ever had. I wasn't always just business with them. I invited them into my home, I took care of them and gave them everything they ever needed or wanted. I gave Lexi a purpose after her mother was ripped away from her. I got Anthony treatment for all his sickness, internal and external. I made Angel my right hand man, for Christ's sake! Fortune City was mine, and I chose to share it with all of them! My money, my power, my control. They were always accounted for, they were always apart of my plan, they would always be taken care of! And yet..!
... And yet they all turned their backs on me. First Angel with his stupid plot to throw Fortune City back into chaos and steal my money, then Lexi always trying to stop the growth of my empire! Now even Anthony, the one among them who I believed to be a good honest man, has spat in my face and tried to destroy me!
How long have I been in here? Where even is here? How long have I been telling this story? I need to wake up, I need to check on my empire, and I need to MURDER those traitorous scoundrels the same way I did my scumbag uncle!
... Fine. You want the end of the story, right? Well, you should already know by now, but I'll tell it any way. It was a warm, Wednesday morning. I was thinking of inviting the others out for a night homerun derby again, it was one of the few outdoor activities we often took part in. Even Angel would leave the house, just to be our pitcher. He actually had a hell of a fastball, something about pretending baseballs were Pokeballs as a kid and throwing them all the time as practice. I'd see to it that all the fields were empty so that no one would see the four of us out and about and that the lights were on so we could see the fields, and then I'd play catcher. It was really just about seeing who could hit the ball further between Lexi and Anthony, but it was fun. We'd bring a cooler with drinks, a bluetooth speaker to play music, and just sit out under the stars, breathing air that seemed so much more fresh with us in charge of the city... It was nice to just be teenagers every once in awhile. On nights like those even Anarchy and Angel seemed to get along, just a little.
Xander hummed to himself while he cleaned out the small drink cooler in the large kitchen sink. once upon a time this and all other jobs around the house would have been for the help, but ever since Gatherer reclaimed his home he had not brought the maids and the butlers and the cooks back. Too many people, too much hush money. So he and the others had learned to divvy up a mansion worth of chores over time, but that was fine. Xander preferred the company of his partners in crime more than he'd ever preferred the company of any of the help.
Perhaps the most interesting thing he'd learned working with his fellow teenagers to survive was that Anarchy knew how to cook and clean. He'd thought, given his ghoulish heritage and tendencies, that The Anarchist would leave messes everywhere he went. But he was in fact shockingly tidy, and even knew his way around a kitchen. Lexi also had some idea of cooking and cleaning, but Xander and Angel were all but totally useless with chores for the first few months they'd lived together. The both of them had learned though, Xander out of courtesy and Angel because Lexi kept biting his head off about it. That thought made Xander smile a little, things really had been interesting since the four of them had stumbled into each other...
Some ruckus outside drew Xander's attention. He lifted his head from the cooler half full of water, squinted his eyes and glanced out the kitchen window. When he saw no source of the engine revving and distant shouts, he walked with some more haste out of the kitchen. Through the living room, into the main lobby and the front door. He pushed the blinds aside and peaked through the windows beside the front door, and immediately his eyes went wide and his heart dropped into his stomach.
Down the road leading up to his manor, the gate separating his mansion from the others was all that stood between Xander and a congregation of shitty beater cars and furious folk from the other side of the fence. And The Gatherer only got halfway through muttering "What in the fuck?" under his breath before one of gangbangers that he was certain was supposed to work for him walked right up to the keypad beside the gate and punched in the right code. The moment the gates started to open, Xander took a mortified step back. And then another, and another, before he turned and sprinted up the stairs.
You know what's fucked up? Angel was my very first thought. Not that he betrayed me, but that I had to go to his room. I had to tell him we were under attack, I had to save my friend. Together, certainly, we could make our escape and find a way out of this. Ha! What a piece of shit.
Xander's socks slid on the carpet when he turned at the top of the stairs, making him stumble and nearly sending him tumbling back down the steps. But he caught himself, and he continued his sprint to Angel's room at the end of the hall, shouting all the while. "Angel! Angel, they found us! We have to get-!"
The door to that room exploded open, and Xander stopped dead at the sight of an empty computer chair. An empty bed, an empty closet. All of Angel's monitors were a blank desktop, his computer was scrubbed entirely clean of any data that may have given up his identity. And Xander The Gatherer stood there in the greyish blue light of those monitors, his arms dangling limp at his sides and his jaw dropped.
... I didn't understand. I couldn't. Of everyone, I... I trusted Angel the most. He was my right hand man. He was my all seeing eye. My safety, the security of everything I ever cared about, I left it all in his hands. He was my intellectual equal, he was someone I was able to talk to, someone I could relate to... He was my friend. Quite possibly my best friend. Didn't he see me the same way? Didn't, any of them see me as their friend?
... Well. You heard their backstories. Tell me, how much did they talk about me? Did they ever talk in depth about the time I spent with them, or did they gloss over it in favor of their childhood trauma and relationship drama? Of course, I thought so. To be an after thought in a world that was promised to me, no matter how hard I try... Once I get out of here, no one will ever forsake me again.
But, in that moment, all I could think was "Why?" And then, suddenly, it all became clear.
"Say... Why don't we play a game? Even scary folk like me like games."
"No. I don't wanna play any games with you."
"Oh, little prince... Can I tell you a secret? You're already playing."
Slowly, Xander's jaw started to tighten. His forehead pounded, his rage began to bubble and boil.
"My Granny didn't just die from bein' old. She was murdered. The Ivory Ghoul's still out here, on this side. And if I'm remembering city history right, the last time a Fortune tried to make a change he killed 'em for it. So keep an eye out."
His grandfather. Angel's Granny. Lexi's mother. Anarchy's father...
"Money can't make you king, Xander. The only way to forge your crown is by winning my game."
"But what is your game?"
"Figuring that out is half the game, boy."
". . ." Xander slowly shook his head, taking steps back out of the room. In that instant, he was certain of three things. Angel had betrayed him, Lexi and Anarchy were dead, and that he had lost the game. So, hawking a loogie onto the floor of Angel's abandoned room because The Hacker was not there to catch it with his eye, he cursed one last time before sprinting out of the room. "Fucking Ivory Ghoul!"
Once more, down the steps and through his home. When he passed by the front door, he could see furious faces in the windows. Greedy shadows danced in the lobby and powerful fists beat at the door, the hinges creaking and groaning all the while. Whatever, nothing he could do now. Xander raced through his home at full speed once again, through large rooms and down long hallways. He could hear windows breaking behind him, doors busting off their hinges, shouting... Soon enough, he was slamming the basement door behind himself and rushing down the stairs once again. Luckily, this time there wasn't a Ghoul waiting for him.
Gatherer raced across his basement and to the door of his massive safe, and with a frantic and shaking hand he rapidly punched in the gratuitous amount of digits required into the key pad. Then, with a hydraulic hiss, the massive metal door unfastened. With pain staking slowness it started to creak open, and Xander stood there tapping his foot and looking between the door and the staircase while he waited for it to open enough for him to squeeze inside. The moment it did, he stepped into the metal box.
Grabbing ahold of the inside handle, Xander grunted with exertion while he yanked the vault door inward and closed himself in the safe. With another hydraulic hiss, the massive vault was shut and the door was locked into place. With a few feet of steel between himself and the invaders of his castle, Xander was able to take a deep breath and step back. He felt in his pocket for his phone, but grimaced when he only found his lighter and a half empty pack of cigarettes. Fuck!
Looking around for anything that might help him, Gatherer's eyes went wide. His safe, it was... Why was it so barren?! What had once been wall after wall of money, massive stacks of cash, bricks of fucking gold! Gone! Stolen! In the hands of that filthy, dirty, worthless Hacker! That scum from the other side of the fence! That fucking fucker!
Xander had been screwed, double crossed, betrayed, bamboozled, and fucked thirty seven ways from Sunday! Without any reason to be reserved any longer, Xander screamed his fury at the top of his lungs. He spun, kicked over the blood stained table that he'd bested his uncle at. He grabbed the one chair that had been left by the table, pulled it up over his head, and sent it smashing down into the table that was now on its side. The Gatherer shouted obscenities at the top of his lungs while he yanked that chair up, only to smash it down again. And again. And again. Soon enough, he was just kicking wood chunks on the floor and shouting cuss words at the ceiling.
With nothing left to aim his wrath at, Xander The Gatherer looked over his shoulder to the screen in the corner of the vault. It showed the camera feed of the outside of the safe, something Xander had installed when it was still his plan to hide from The Ivory Ghoul in this safe. The camera showed a furious mob gathered in the basement outside, ready to tear the door off and grab their share of the money they thought was inside. It made Xander think of the tapes he'd watched, the masses that The Killer had gotten to chant for chaos. It dawned on him then that maybe Fortune City just didn't want to be saved. And when he watched someone strut right up to the keypad beside the vault, he came to another conclusion. "... That mother fucker told them the code to open the safe."
Strangely enough, as the numbers were slowly punched into the keypad and Xander The Gatherer became very aware of his sealed fate, terror did not set in. There was no fear, there was no relief, there was only understanding. Understanding, and rage. So, he decided as he grabbed a broken chair leg from the floor, if these filthy dogs wanted to bite the hand that had been feeding them, he would have to beat them.
Retrieving his lighter from his pocket, Gatherer hastily held the flame up to his stick. His king's sword, the one thing standing between him and the masses that were soon to rush him. He ignited that chair leg, and then he pressed its flame into the remaining stacks of dollar bills and ignited them too. If those disease ridden hounds wanted money, they'd have to get it from selling all the family heirlooms that Xander didn't give a shit about.
And as the door began to hiss and open, Xander stood tall. Lit cigarette in his mouth, flaming chair leg in his hand. Piles of money and the expensive jacket and shirt he'd tossed aside to reveal the white undershirt he'd been wearing beneath his fancy clothes were all crackling with fire. Smoke and orange light were filling the vault, and The Fortunate Son stood there, exhaling fog through his gritting teeth and preparing to cut through however many of those gutter dogs he could with the flaming blade in his one hand and the buckle of the belt he held in his opposite hand.
But, just before he could see the masses and they could see him, Xander The Gatherer felt the floor drop out from beneath him. His eyes went wide when he felt gravity's sudden pull, and in nearly an instant he was dropping down through a sea of colors. Lights, numbers, all far beyond his understanding. And he stared up while he plummeted, watched with appalled violet eyes as the smoke and the flames turned to golden petals and blinding light.
I thought I could handle the angry mob, but apparently life had other plans. As relieved as I was to still be alive, I did feel pretty blueballed after not being able to take my anger out on anything. But, that was fine. I just had to wait a few more days, and then I had fire magic and a possessed, RESETing child to take all my frustrations out on. After that, things were good, and then bad, and then really good, and now really bad again.
But, hey, that's fine! Just like before I'm ready to swing the sword and crack the whip and punish the ones who bit my hand after I so graciously fed them! Which reminds me!
"Here ya are, boss." Hacker smirked as he held his hand out towards Eden, offering to her a black metal box with a big button in its center. The button flickered between this ugly pink and this sickly yellow color, and it was labeled "NEO". Eden took it carefully into her hand, gave it a glance before looking back up into Hacker's confident expression. "Push that button when the enemy shows up, and they'll have a real big shot to deal with."
"Perfect." Eden flashed The Hacker a smile, and beside him even the ever anxious Fellphys looked a little relieved. Hacker was wearing his lab coat, the three of them were standing in the laboratory, in front of the computers he and Fellphys often worked on. Computers that Eden leaned to the side to look past Hacker and see while she asked, "Can you check the status of the firewalls, by the way? Those should be an indicator of when their invasion will begin."
"Oh, yeah." Hacker waved a dismissive hand, spinning around and leaning over his keyboard. His fingers hit a few keys, he clicked on a few different things, and then a blank screen opened. Eden just crossed her arms and arched a somewhat impatient brow, but Hacker froze completely. With cold sweat starting to bead down his face he gradually looked over his shoulder, and Eden recoiled a little when she saw his wide eyes and shrunken pupils. "... Uh. What firewalls?"
"Uhm, all of them?" Eden tilted her head with a lack of understanding, furrowing her brows at Hacker.
"This. Is, all of them." Hacker gradually turned to face Eden, and the gravity of the situation was more clear than ever on his face as he gestured to the very blank screen on his computer. "Or, at least, where uh. Where they should be."
"... Well, what... What uhm, what does that mean?" Eden's eyes were starting to widen too. Hacker's reserved panic proved contagious, and Fellphys was already rushing to her own computer to check on the firewalls with shaky claws.
"I, think it means something deleted all our firewalls." Hacker explained, wincing at his own words. By his side, Fellphys whimpered a "no no no!" after pulling up the exact same blank screen.
"... Oh fuck they're here." Eden concluded aloud with wide, mortified eyes. Hacker winced harder, nodding in agreement. Immediately Eden sprung to life, taking a few steps towards the door and hastily gesturing to the two scientists before her. She started barking hasty orders, "Alright, I'm heading to the wall! You two-!"
CRASH! SHATTER!
A sudden flash of red light had the three of them flinching. Arms were thrown up to cover eyes, Hacker instinctively threw an arm out in front of Eden and another in front of Fellphys. But, when the red flare cleared and the sound of glass shattering and water pouring over the floor quieted, the three of them opened their eyes. And where they were expecting an Angel or an Anarchist, what they found was Xander The Gatherer on his hands and knees on the tile floor in front of what was once his healing pod, tearing the oxygen mask off his face and dripping with the healing liquid from the glass tube he had exploded out of.
"Hah... Where am I? How long was I out?!" Gatherer barked his demands, and when his head whipped around to look at the three of them they could all see that his horns were once more jutting out of his forehead. digging his black and smoking nails into the tile, The Balor King gradually climbed to his feet. His eyes blinked and twitched, and the snake tattoos that had reformed in the tank right with the arms that had been ripped off of him were starting to glow with white hot heat.
"Xander, relax. Take a deep breath. You're home, you're in the science and research center." Eden spoke slowly and calmly. She reached out one hand to Xander, who was rubbing his horned forehead and trying to gather his thoughts. Taking a few steps closer, Eden added. "You were very injured after the fight, but we healed you in Hacker's healing pod. You're okay."
"Yes, yes I... I remember now..." Xander blinked a few times. He shook his head while Eden rested one hand on his shoulder. Fellphys rushed to his side, taking gentle hold of his bare abdomen and helping him stand up straight. He was almost entirely naked, just wearing a pair of black boxers. That, combined with his soggy hair laying unkept all around his head and the twitchy look in his eye had Xander looking very far removed from the version of himself that all in that room had come to know. Even still, a smile started to curl his lips. His chest began to rumble with laughter. "Ha... Haha... Seven souls, I finally have all seven souls..!"
"..." Eden and Hacker exchanged an anxious glance, and she carefully stepped away from Xander while Fellphys helped him keep his balance. She had to swallow and shake her head, but after a quick glance back at the blank white screen of Hacker's computer Eden remembered all that was at stake and forced herself to get to the point. "Listen, Xander, I know you just woke up but we are in danger. The firewalls are down, The Angel, The Anarchist, and The Predator are upon us. If we're going to save our empire, we need to return that soul."
"..." Xander stopped laughing and he stopped immediately. Slowly, he looked up from the hand he'd buried his face in. His glowing red eyes were wide, and they locked on to Eden from between his fingers. He asked through teeth that were beginning to grit, "What..?"
"Everything we have worked for is in danger, Xander. If we go to war with them again, our entire empire is at risk and thousands of people could die." While Eden spoke, she reached out one hesitant hand. She took a slow step closer, like she was trying to soothe a rabid dog. "I know you're in a fragile state right now, but please trust me when I say diplomacy and the return of that soul is the only chance we have."
"Return the soul? Did you hit your head?!" Xander snarled, taking a step back and pulling away from Fellphys. He stood on the now wet floor with his own two feet, and his fists crackled and smoked when they clenched at his sides. "With this soul, we have infinite power at our finger tips! A god under my command, and I'll order it to destroy all who oppose me!"
"Xander we can't be sure that it will listen to you!" Eden refuted urgently. Cold sweat was beading down her forehead even as the room heated up under the might of Xander's volatile soul. They were out of time and she knew it, but still she tried to reach her mentor. "You're playing with powers that you don't understand! There's still a chance to do the right thing here!"
"Erg, how dare you..?!" Xander grabbed his throbbing forehead, and his horns stretched just a little further out of his head while black smoke seeped out of his gritting teeth. His snake tattoos were coiling, hissing and crackling with the flames of his wrath. "You're starting to sound like that damn Angel!"
"Yeah well what if The Angel was right?!" Eden took a bold step forward and Eden made a real bold statement. She stood tall there in defiance, a sight that made Xander recoil. Made his blood boil. Made his hand cock back, and!
Slap!
Fellphys gasped, Hacker snarled. Eden's head was forced to the side. Her glasses were nearly knocked off her nose. A red hand print stung on her cheek, and her stunned eyes stared down at the glass shards on the floor. In them, she could see a twisted and distorted reflection of herself and The Balor King.
"You stupid, stupid little girl! You think you can undermine me, is that it? You want my money and my status too now?!" Xander barked ferociously while he stomped forward. He didn't hesitate to grab a fistful of Eden's shirt, yanking her forward some and glaring at her with his twisted scarlet eyes. He lamented in his madman snarl, "You know, I must be an idiot! My whole life I thought reliable friends and good company would bring me salvation, but I was wrong! Clearly none of you filthy apes are worthy of my trust!"
"The keys to my kingdom are not in friends or allies or shields or protégés!" While Xander barked his fury against Eden's turned cheek, spit flecked from his venom soaked tongue. Eden kept her head turned, but her jaw closed. Her teeth began to grind... "Power will give me my crown! Pure, unadulterated, unrivaled power! That is the key to my kingdom! that is how I win the game!"
"So listen to me and listen to me good! This world was promised TO ME!" Xander continued to howl and growl, his face just an inch from Eden's ear. He jabbed his spare finger against her forehead, like he was trying to wake her brain up. Like he thought she was a moron. He had no idea her fists were trembling with a righteous rage, he couldn't see the flicker of orange in her purple eyes. "AND I WILL HAVE IT! I WILL HAVE EVERYTHING, EVEN IF I HAVE TO KILL EVERYONE IN MY WAY!"
"DO I MAKE THAT CLEAR, BRAT?!" The Balor King demanded to know, tilting his head some to try and get a look at Eden's eyes with his own twitching ones. He beat his finger against her forehead some more, totally unaware that Eden was slowly cocking back her fist. "IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, YOU BETTER GET REAL GOOD AT KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT YOU STUPID, TRAITOROUS LITTLE CUN-!"
WHAM!
Xander The Balor King was forced to a stop mid four letter when the wind was punched right out of his lungs. Eden's fist, crackling with orange light, was buried so deep in Gatherer's gut that he was certain if he had eaten anything solid over the past two weeks it would have spewed up out of his jaws and onto her shoes. Immediately his body folded forward, and on wobbling knees he managed to stumble back a step. Wrapping his arms around his now throbbing diaphragm, Gatherer dropped right into the glass and juice on his knees. He was still dry heaving, his wide and bloodshot eyes were trembling and staring at Eden's feet.
"You are a TINY, WEAK, GREEDY, PATHETIC LITTLE MAN!" Eden snapped as she loomed over him, her lips peeled back in a vicious snarl. Her glasses were entirely encompassed in an orange glare, and she pointed with the same powerful hand that she'd punched Xander's guts in with down at him. He couldn't even look up at her, he was forced to grovel in agony at her feet while she berated him. "AND IF MY BROTHER COULD SEE YOU NOW HE WOULD BE DISGUSTED!"
"Hacker, go find Demon and gear up for a fight!" Eden turned her snarl Hacker's way, and there was such wrath boiling in her tone that he nearly jumped out of his shoes. But, when she pointed to the door behind her, he was quick to shuffle towards it, only stopping to hawk a loogie down on the back of Gatherer's head. While Hacker made his exit, Eden turned her righteous glare back to The Balor King. "I'm going to go fight to keep my home safe! You can either help or slit your wrists with these pieces of glass, I don't care which!"
Eden hawked her own loogie onto Xander's face right as he managed to look up at her, and then she turned on her heel and marched right out the door. Xander reached out with a trembling hand, his other arm remaining wrapped around his throbbing abdomen. The automatic door slid shut behind Eden, but The Balor King still called out weakly. "Eden..! Wait..! Wait, y-you..! Don't... Don't you dare walk away from me..!"
Xander tumbled forward onto his elbows, gasping a little more and dry heaving again. Beside him, Fellphys stared with heartbroken eyes. Carefully, she knelt down beside him, resting her hand on his back and placing the other on his bicep. She stammered, "S-sir... D-don't worry, t-this... This will all w-work out, I-I promise..."
"... Hah... Y-yes, yes, it will..." Gatherer's crooked smile gradually started to crease his face again, and Fellphys' eyes went wide when a glass cylinder appeared in her king's hand. The red light it emanated reflected in her cowardly eyes, and within the chamber Chara's soul burned bright. It was so red and so clear that Xander could see his own twisted grin in it, but he still didn't stop smiling. "Because I have this."
Carefully and hesitantly, Fellphys again helped Xander to stand. She gulped, eyed the container he held under his arm... But looked up to him. She offered out her hand, and from her inventory a sword shaped sandwich appeared. A Legendary Hero, for her hero... She reminded him, "H-here, sir... Your body is feeling weak because of it's time in the pod. This should help."
Xander shot Alphys a look, and she felt a chill run up her spine. But... He did reach out, and he did snatch that healing item from her hand. And without an ounce of hesitation or grace, he devoured the item. Its magic returned stamina to him, it bolstered his strength, it stopped the brutal ache in his diaphragm.
After eating the item, Gatherer stood up straight. He didn't bother thanking Fellphys, instead just walking right past her and towards the massive doors at the back wall of the room. He marched right up to them with a tight grip on that contained soul, and he looked right up into the camera over the door while he ordered its metal to obey him. "Override code: Fortunate Son."
Recognizing his voice and his command, the steel of the doors immediately parted. Fellphys watched with wide, trembling eyes as metal got out of the way, and the multicolored light from six other human souls flooded the laboratory. Gatherer took one powerful, confident stride into the lab, and hesitantly, fearfully, Fellphys wandered after him.
"Your little plan failed, Chara." The Balor King assured the soul in the jar while he held it up to his face. Before him, the panel beneath the bars and glass protecting the larger tubes each soul was trapped in opened up into a cylinder, the same width as the container Gatherer was grinning wickedly into. "Your hero isn't coming to save you, and no one is going to wretch this multiverse out of my hands ever again."
Fellphys stood there, trembling. Her eyes darted between her master's freakish smile and the hole in the table. The six souls behind the glass, the one Xander was slowly bringing down towards the slot made for it. Cliff, Mew Mew, Swaphys, Felldyne were all victims of The Gatherer's war. Her claws clenched into trembling fists at her sides, and though cowardly tears were welling up in her eyes... Eden and, yes, even Hacker were out there... The friends she had left were in danger.
Suddenly, in his moment of triumph, shaky yellow claws launched out. Xander's mad eyes went wide as that glass jar was yanked right from his hands, and his furious eyes glossed in slow motion towards Fellphys. His lips peeled back, his fangs bared, and he turned to watch that brave and terrified lizard tuck the container holding Chara's soul under her arm and scurry full speed towards the door.
And while the automatic door pulled open, and the metal gave way to a clear path for Fellphys' escape, Xander's furious expression dulled. The unbearable rage in his eyes chilled into a cruel and vicious hate, his snarl faded to an unfeeling frown. And just as Fellphys stepped into the doorway, put her life on the line as all her friends had and tried with what little might she had to save the day... Gatherer The Balor King lifted his hand, and he pointed two smoking and sparking fingers at her back.
CRASH!
The lab ignited in magenta light, and in the blink of an eye purple lightning had blasted from Xander's finger tips to the wall in front of Fellphys. And her back arched, her eyes and jaws were both snapped open wide while she threw her head back. That painful purple light illuminated her entire body, because Xander's lightning bolt had fired clean through the space between her shoulder blades and out her chest. And in the very next instant, her body crumbled to ash. All that she was and ever had been splashed onto the floor, as if she'd only ever been worth a bucket of sand. And in her pile of dust that container landed, bounced, and stuck.
"... As I was saying, Chara Dreemurr." Gatherer spoke after a hardly respectful moment of silence. He lowered his smoking fingers, and he even cracked a little smile. Then, he walked across the lab. In bare feet, through the sloshing water and broken glass. To the water logged dust, which stuck right to his feet while he leaned down and plucked that cylinder from the filth. "Despite everyone's best efforts, I win."
Gatherer The Balor King turned then, marched right back towards those souls with Chara's red heart in his unbreakable grip. He stomped right up to that hole on the table, and he pushed the container right into it. Then, in the next moment, a red light illuminated the wall of color before him. Chara's soul darted up the tube, and was suspended right in the formerly empty middle slot between the other six souls. Gatherer smiled into the glimmering wall of color, in his true and twisted way.
That open hole in the table snapped shut, and beside it a panel flipped over. Strapped to the panel was a remote or maybe a detonator, depending on who you asked. Something small, just big enough to fit in Xander's hand perfectly. Like it was a kill switch made for him. At its center, just one button. That was all it would take, and Gatherer would finally be king.
He reached down, and with his clawed and snake wrapped hand he took the detonator that had been offered to him. He held it up in the light of those souls he'd stolen, he let his thumb caress the button...
"... No." He said flippantly, flashing a demented smile all the while. The detonator disappeared into his inventory, and turned his scarlet stare up at the souls trapped over him. Gatherer started to giggle, throwing his arms out to his sides and basking in his own glory. In the lab behind him, trapped in his healing pod, unbeknownst to The Fortunate Son... Error's fingers slowly curled into a weak fist.
"I wanna see the looks on their faces when I take the throne!"
Please Favorite, Follow, and Review.
XWolf26, out