Chapter 217: The Photo Shoot.

"Though no one had ever seen him before, no one needed to be told who he was."

-SailorMartin3 and aviendha15, The Pathway Home

Fredrick calmly made his way over to Gryphon Junkyards LLC headquarters. He had spent the past few days with his family, and it had been a really enjoyable time, a pleasant break from the stresses of work. But he could not neglect his business for too long, he had to return at some point.

At first sight, it appeared that the junkyard had hardly changed since his last visit there. However, he soon noticed a large object next to the path leading to the bottom of the pit, with a huge tarp covering parts of it. The wrecking ball was clearly visible, sticking out from underneath the tarp. Evidently Lionel-Hector had damaged the bulldozer and pitifully attempted to hide this. Fredrick didn't care: he was more than used to his employee's incompetence. Hopefully the insurance company would pay. The rest of the equipment was not concealed, but had started to rust.

As he approached the building, Fredrick noticed another change: a stream going from one end of the pit to the other. As appealing as it would have been to blame LH for that, he reasoned that this was likely not his fault, but rather aging plumbing that had failed. Once again, hopefully the insurance company would pay.

Then, he entered the building, which was even messier than the last time he had been there. Mold was growing on the ceiling, and the paint on the walls appeared to be falling off. The filing cabinet was open, and all the drawers were empty. What had his employee done with all the important files that used to be in there?

On the desk, all the mail for the past week or so lay unopened. Glancing through the envelopes, one of them caught Fredrick's attention: it came from a government agency. He sat down and opened it, before starting to read the letter. It was really long and very formal, full of complicated legal speak that he didn't fully understand, but he managed to figure out the essence of the message.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Lionel-Hector walked into the building. He was whistling merrily, staring at a few sheets of paper in his hands.

-"What's up, LH?"

Lionel-Hector turned and looked at his boss.

-"Hey sir Fred! When did you get back?"

-"This morning. What's that in your hand?"

-"What? Oh that! Well, sir Fred, I finally finished it, see!"

-"Finished what?"

-"The script for a pilot episode of a TV show."

Fredrick sighed. This was not the first time that LH had "finished" his script, but he always went back and rewrote significant parts. It would likely never be submitted to any of the major networks, let alone turned into a complete series.

-"I see. What is it about?"

-"Well, you see, it's all about..."

-"I'm sure it will be really interesting, I look forward to watching it on the BBC." Fredrick had quickly regretted asking LH what the pilot was about, considering the latter's tendency to ramble, and the convoluted plotlines he tended to come up with.

-"I just have to mail it to them. Do you know where the stamps are?"

-"I don't, and you have more important things to do at the moment. Is the crane repaired?"

-"No..." LH was embarrassed to admit.

-"And why not?"

-"Uh...I don't know how to fix it?"

-"Neither do I. But you broke it, so you fix it. Look it up on YouTube or something. Or call a professional. I don't really care what you do, as long as it gets fixed."

-"Uh...I'll try the YouTube first."

The rabbits at Darkhaven were also keeping busy. Woundwort was gathering his owsla; once nearly everyone was in front of him, he made his announcement.

-"Today, I will have someone else to assist me with your training. Remember how yesterday, a new doe arrived here? You could all learn a lot from her. We just have to wait for her to arrive..."

Spartina had spent the night digging, searching for the ultimate weapon, but she had yet to find anything. Having not slept, she was exhausted, although she did her best to hide this. When she saw the crowd that Woundwort had gathered, she ran over to them, hoping her absence hadn't been noticed yet. By the time she had arrived, however, Woundwort's attention had moved to a white shape some distance away. It was moving, which was weird, there were no white-furred rabbits in Darkhaven. As it approached, he saw that it was actually a mouse.

-"Oh mighty General, I have returned!"

Woundwort instantly recognized this voice: it belong to the mouse who called himself Brain. He had almost forgotten about him, and his friend Pinky, it had been several days since they had last visited.

-"So you have returned," the General said. "What brings you back?"

-"I told you that I would assist you in destroying the outsiders," Brain explained. "I will be ready to proceed whenever you are."

-"And just how will you, a mouse, destroy a large warren of rabbits?"

-"Pinky is bringing the tool I will be using."

Within a few moments, Brain's companion Pinky came into view. He was holding a lengthy red cylinder, taller than he was; it was hard for him to walk while holding it.

-"Brain, it's heavy, can I let go now?" he asked.

-"Yes Pinky, you may let go."

With a sigh of relief, Pinky dropped the object; it landed on Brain's hind leg. The mouse grimaced in pain, and had to restrain himself not to hit Pinky out of anger.

-"I will be using dynamite, General," he said.

-"What is dynamite?" Woundwort asked.

-"It is a mixture of nitroglycerine, powdered shells, and stabilizers, that also includes a blasting cap connected to a fuse that will trigger the detonation."

Woundwort stared wide-eyed at the mice, he had not understood a single word that Brain had just said.

-"What language were you speaking?"

-"Allow me to put this in more simple words. If you place it in just the right location inside the outsiders' warren, it will cause a complete cave-in, leaving everyone trapped underground to suffocate."

-"But wouldn't placing this...dynamite, require venturing inside the warren? The entrances are likely to be closely guarded, making it impossible for any of us to go underground."

-"I already have a solution for that." Brain revealed his dart gun; having learned from his mistake when explaining the dynamite, he decided to use simple words right from the beginning, and skip the science lesson. "This here will allow me to put the guards to sleep so they do not interfere while the dynamite is placed. If you wish, we could destroy the warren as soon as tonight."

Woundwort made a rare smile.

-"This is perfect. Finally, the outsiders will die."

-"I have kept my end of the bargain. Now, it is time for you to keep yours."

-"Of course." Woundwort paused for a few moments. "What exactly do you want me to do? Something about world domination and traumatizing humans?"

-"Yes! I have a device that will capture images of you, which I will then share across the world for world domination purposes. All I need you to do is pose for the images, along with your owsla. Bring the makeup, Pinky."

Pinky quickly returned holding a cotton swab, with a red substance at the tip. He handed it to Brain, who put it up to Woundwort's face, prompting the rabbit to frown.

-"What are you doing?"

-"You will look more terrifying if your face is covered with blood," the Brain explained. "Which is why I am now applying some."

-"That's not blood! The scent is all wrong."

-"No, it's fake blood," Brain clarified. "It may not smell like real blood, but it will look just like it when I distribute the message."

-"I don't do things half way. If I am to have a bloody face, it shall be actual blood, not some lousy imitation."

Woundwort tried to think of the best way to obtain actual blood. If only there was a prisoner to torture...but there wasn't, so he would have to try something else.

-"I'm going elil hunting. I'll be back."

Oh what an annoying delay, Brain thought...he was in a hurry to get this photo shoot over with, so that he could move on to the next step of his world domination plan, but he needed some intimidating pictures of Woundwort first. He would have to find a way to avoid wasting his time until he came back.

-"If you don't mind, I can get some images of your owsla while you're gone?"

-"Yeah, sure, go ahead."

Just a few moments after Woundwort had left, another rabbit arrived; this time, it was Lady May. She kept looking all around her, very nervous; what the others didn't know was that she was afraid of another attack by Kurai.

-"Hey, has anyone seen the big General? I have something important to discuss with him."

-"He just left," Pinky said.

-"If anyone else would prefer real blood, I suggest you go with him," Brain told the owsla. "The rest of you, line up, while me and Pinky apply the fake blood."

-"Oh that's gruesome!" Lady May said. "Are you filming a horror movie or something?"

-"You could say that. Do you want a role?"

-"No, my life is already a horror movie in itself, there's a psycho killer after me!"

-"Then I suggest you flee while you still can."

-"Well sure, I would love to leave, but go where?"

-"I don't know." Brain was getting annoyed at how much Lady May was talking. She had no interest in appearing in his footage (not to mention that she looked too cute and not intimidating enough) so he had no reason to keep talking to her. "Anyway, the rest of you, are you ready for the fake blood?"

-"You're just a mouse. Why should we let you boss us around?" Feldspar asked.

-"If you don't, Woundwort will get mad."

This was enough to convince the rabbits to listen: Woundwort could be so terrifying when angry. Pinky and the Brain were able to start work on applying the makeup.