Chapter 51:
Thor turned from the locked door of the nursery to the insistent chiming of his phone. There were no signs the rebels had tried anything more serious here than jerking on the door handle a few times. The staff inside had assured him that things were under control, so he could report good news to the Royals on that front.
Drawing the phone from his pocket, he flicked it open, and called out, "go..."
As the big man listened, the voice on the other end laid out the status up in the hills above the town. Things had gone to plan, and they'd even managed to lay hands on the idiot son of the Mayor. Two down. Just one left.
Hanging up the phone, Thor dialed up the leader of the commando team that was waiting in the wings just outside the public section of the palace. There was only one thing in the way of a clean sweep. His master's wife was in the hands of the rebels in the outer palace.
"Ok," Thor rumbled, "what's the story?" :Just over a dozen interlopers: the lead commando responded. :All armed with those assegai things from Jungle Kingdom. Two holed up in the Seneschal's office with the Seneschal. The rest are wandering the halls like they're trying to figure out what to do...:
Thor began to do the math. Two armed people in the room with the Seneschal wasn't good. At the same time, the fact that they had people spread out in the palace helped matters.
"Silent weapons," Thor commanded. "Take your time. Kill the roamers." :Acknowledge: the lead commando responded. Thor hung up.
Striding towards the elevator, he dialed up the commander of the troops in the town. It was time to start taking out the trash there too. "This is Thor," the big man announced. "What's going on?" His subordinate responded, :the rebels are moving towards Howling Wolf Square. We think they're responding to the gunshots...:
That was actually good news. "Kill them," Thor commanded. "Use silent weapons as much as you can. Leave any who surrender alive to face justice. Zero out anybody who resists."
Down in Lollipop's office, Dick Stanek was climbing the walls. He'd been calling his sister over and over and over again, with no response. He was past hungry to starving now and completely unsure of what to do next.
Beside him, his mother bounced back and forth between recriminations and despair. She wanted the castle and all its beautiful amenities. She wanted to sail in the clouds, living the glorious life like they'd had it on the Ark, and she blamed Dick for failing to secure it.
The evil old woman seemed to think that if only he'd swallowed his objections, the King's curvy blonde daughter would've been their ticket to control of King's Island.
Sitting in the corner, Lollipop couldn't help but roll her eyes. As if. Fionna hadn't grown up a pampered princess in an ivory tower.
The younger Mr. Stanek made three circuits through the room, clawing at his scalp and talking to himself. He was in a bad state if he was that agitated already.
Do I press, thought Lollipop? The humans' little coup had gone straight in the ditch right from the start, when they decided to walk out of the secure part of the palace. Now, there was nobody to let them back in.
They no longer had access to any of the systems that mattered. Flight control was out of their hands. The invisibility screen was isolated up in the tallest tower. And, more to the point, they no longer had the option of threatening anyone who mattered. They were fucked. They just didn't know it. Yet.
Lollipop had been helping the chaos bit by bit. She'd fed the Staneks' anger and uncertainty, egging Tasha's son to do stupid things like rushing around the castle in a daze, which had ended up with them locked out. She'd distracted them from courses of action that might've helped their cause by angering the hothead until he did something rash. With his rage sated, he almost always forgot what he'd been doing.
Knowing that Tasha's idiot daughter had likely walked into a terrible trap at Riley's pub, Lollipop wondered if she should try to get Dick Stanek to overextend himself. If she got rid of the handful of soldiers he had, that left her down to facing him alone.
Armed, she thought. She could've taken him if he weren't carrying that gun. As it was, there was the very real risk he'd just shoot her in cold blood. Patience, she thought. Wait for him to drop his guard. With the number of failures the rebels had already had, it wouldn't take much.
Out in the streets, a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek was underway. With hundreds of rebels loose in the town, there was a very high risk that many of the citizens would get killed. It helped not at all that some of the very humans hired to help out had turned traitor.
Still, Thor's soldiers had been preparing for this very moment. The town guard had posts scattered across the town concealed in basements and other innocuous places—the better to quickly muster to the aid of the townsfolk. Now, as the human rebels rushed towards Howling Wolf Square, the King's guards mounted a series of deadly ambushes.
On Margaret Street, a small group of rebels came rushing down the road, shouting at the locals to get out of their way. Everyone had heard that the Mayor's daughter had gone down to one of the squares to handle business and run into trouble. Now, soldiers were closing in from all over town. With the castle somehow locked up in spite of the fact that they had people inside, there seemed no better option.
As they came to the crossroads with 5th Ave., a burly man with deep green skin stepped out. Leveling a spear at the first man he saw, he drove the spear through the man's belly and out his back.
While the human's friends variously goggled in shock or emptied their guts in horror, the big man ducked back down the street from whence he'd come. Above them, other humanoids rose up and began hurling heavy chunks of concrete or paving stones from the street down on the other humans.
The hapless rebels fired wildly. Though they did manage to kill two of their assailants, those same assailants wrought bloody havoc on them in return, killing all but two of the humans, who tore out of there as if hell chased them.
On Jacob Ave, a dozen rebels rushing towards Howling Wolf Square came across a pack of living bananas, who were milling in the street shooting dice of all things. As the rebels shouted at them to get out of the way, the dozen candy-creatures drew swords and began stabbing them.
Three rebels dropped their weapons and ran for their lives. Others swung ineffectually with weapons they hadn't really trained to use in a close-quarters fight. In short order, the entire group—all but the runners—was dead in the street.
Back in the palace, Lieutenant Andersen was stalking a particularly paranoid group of rebels—doing his best to corner them—when a familiar young boy stepped out of a side passage. The sight of the young fellow stopped the froyo-person dead in his tracks. What the hell was the King's son doing here?!
"Van," hissed the lieutenant, as he grabbed the boy and hauled him back into the passage. "What the hell are you doing outside the nursery?"
"Morning run," the boy responded. "Eighteen laps around the courtyard. Then fifty pushups, then a hundred situps, then eighteen more laps."
Lt. Andersen blushed. Everybody knew their boss had taken the young boy under his wing. The Captain of the Guard was doing his best to teach the King's son about the finer points of both life and being a soldier. But this wasn't the time.
"You need to get upstairs," the Lt. hissed! "You can't be out!" "Doors are all locked," Van calmly replied. "Momma Lollipop's pro'lly locked 'em all. I was going to see if she's in her office..."
"There's rebels in the castle," the Lieutenant responded. "Boss," hissed one of his soldiers. "They look like they might come back this way..."
Glancing at the hall, Van remarked, "he must mean those jokers who're wandering around. If you don't want to run into them, you could pro'lly go through this passage. It leads out to a banquet hall. And there's a room with dishes and stuff on the other side that connects to the hallway."
We can get them all at once, thought Lt. Andersen. He'd been despairing that any fight would result in the survivors fleeing into the palace and putting other servants and staff at risk. With this information, he could bottle them up in this hallway.
Dispensing orders, the lieutenant sent half his men rushing through the banquet hall, just as the young boy had said. The rest moved into position to charge out as soon as the rebels were close. "You stay right here, young man," the lieutenant commanded, as he tousled Van's hair.
Dick Stanek's thugs were headed back to the little office where he was holed up, having utterly failed to find any additional weapons, any way back into the main part of the palace, or any way out to tie up with their allies outside. They were in a nasty pickle at the moment, and there didn't seem to be a good way out.
Their leader, a big, burly fellow who'd spent time both in the NYPD and the NYFD over the years, was now considering something truly dangerous. If they could reach the walkway atop the wall, they could maybe climb back down the other side.
It was a gamble and a mad one, but the reality was that they were utterly failing to get anything done in here. If they could take the one hostage they had and get back to shore, that would let them bargain. Right now, they had nothing, and the clock was ticking on their enemy's eventual retaliation.
Making his way back through the opulent hallways to the mutant's office, the ex-cop worked on his pitch. There was plenty of material to use for ropes. He had a couple of guys who were good at climbing. If they could make the top of the wall, they could pull the others up with ropes and lower them down the other side.
His mind was so focused on the argument he had to make that he didn't notice the man step out of the door to his right until the sword was disappearing into his guts. It would've made a pretty solid magic-trick to untrained eyes—if you didn't count the bloody steel blade going out the other side.
A dozen men crowded out of that little room, with a dozen more rushing up from behind. In a frenzy of stabbing, they quickly cut short the lives of the human raiders, leaving them bleeding on the tiles.
Staring at the hideous sight of pools of blood and splatters of gore on the walls with a twisted grin, Van Mertens opined, "momma Lollipop's going to be mad about the mess..."
"Your mom's in her office," Lt. Andersen sighed, "but the mayor's wife and son are there too..." He was angling towards explaining the hostage situation, but the boy snorted, "that guy's a pussy, Lieutenant. You could take him easy..." Face flushed, the boy mumbled, "momma Lollipop gets made when I use words like that..."
Tousling his hair, the sergeant said, "we won't tell, son." The chubby banana glanced up at Lt. Andersen. Blowing out a breath, the froyo-person said, "listen, Van... There's... There's a problem. We think the mayor's son has a gun... We can't just go in there..." Primly, Van declared, "then I'll go myself..."
Before anybody could stop him, the young fellow tore off down the hall. The soldiers rushed after him, anxious to prevent the King's son from racing into trouble and possible harm.
Still, the young fellow hadn't been joking about the laps around the courtyard or the other exercises. In the confined space of the palace, he got ahead and stayed there as they thundered up on the Seneschal's office. Seeing the danger they were in, Lieutenant Andersen motioned for his men to stop as Van darted into the office and straight into danger.
Inside the office, Lollipop felt her heart shoot into her throat as her stepson ran into the room. Almost at the same time, the Mayor's odious son turned the spear-gun on him. "Dick, stop," howled Tasha Stanek!
Glaring at Lollipop, the evil trophy wife declared, "it appears another hostage—a better one—just walked in."
Outside, a voice called out, "Lady Lollipop? Are you in there?" As Lollipop opened her mouth to respond, Tasha Stanek punched her in the eye.
Dick Stanek shouted back, "we got the mutant bitch, and we got one o'the King's bastards! We'll deal for the Ark!"
Another voice called out, "there will be no dealing." Lollipop recognized Thor's voice. "Thor," she called out?! "Your Excellency," Thor responded. "We are attempting to free you. All the other raiders have been neutralized..."
"Liar," Dick shouted! "You're lying!" "My daughter," Tasha howled? "What've you done to my daughter and son!" "Anybody who resisted is dead," that voice responded. "Anybody who surrendered is still breathing. For now. The crime of high treason is punishable by death..."
Dick snarled, "you'll get this bitch and her kid back with a couple extra holes!" "We have plenty of time, Mr. Stanek," Thor responded. "There's no help coming. We've killed or neutralized all your confederates. If you surrender, your death will be relatively painless."
"I'll do 'em both," shouted Mr. Stanek! "I'll kill this bitch and the kid both! Why should I surrender?!"
Coolly, Thor responded, "you can die right now, Mr. Stanek, or you can put that off for a few days... a few weeks... while we question you to find out who your accomplices are."
"What do we do," howled Tasha?
Dick Stanek turned to face Lollipop, murder in his eyes. "Well, we got the kid, so we don't need you," he declared, as he strode towards Lollipop. "Looks like it's time for another example... We do you, and maybe your old man will bargain..."
As he approached her, speargun at the ready, Van spun towards him and in one smooth motion cut through the tendons of his right knee with the heavy pocket knife his older brother had given him.
Before Dick realized it, he was toppling. He dropped the spear to catch himself. As Tasha would've grabbed it, Lollipop punched her in the face hard enough to break her nose. New York's first lady began to squeal and scream, clutching at her bloodied face in pain and rage.
"No, Van," Lollipop commanded. "I want these two to go to the gallows together..." The young fellow had just been about to slit Dick Stanek's throat.
Glaring at Tasha, as the guards swarmed in, Lollipop growled, "you didn't know actual bloodshed, but you're about to find out just what that word means. We don't lock people in freezers on Ooo..."
Bowing to Lollipop, Thor declared, "His Majesty has had the Mayor of New York arrested along with all his adherents. The City Council disavows this action..."
Turning to Tasha, Lollipop chuckled, "well... it looked like I was going to be going back home to the east for a moment..."
Thor, for his part, grimaced. Yeah, he thought. They might've made me zero them all out. Thank glob I don't have to do that. Though he might yet find himself committing mass murder, today was not the day he started.
Rising, he grabbed the Mayor's son by the scruff, while his men took the Mayor's wife into custody.
The Finn Family is in control to the very end. Finn's least son is better than the mayor's oldest.