~~Jack~~
He woke up, wet and broken. Someone rolled him over, but his eyes were closed, and opening them took a little more effort than he felt like using at the moment. But once on his back, rain hit his face, and his chest. Wasn't he wearing a suit? Shouldn't that block the rain? Oh, right, the fight he'd been in had thoroughly destroyed it.
Pain came next. He groaned as his body did its thing, and what little vitae he had left got to work forcing his shoulders back into their sockets. His neck straightened out; spine was fucked up. His legs straightened out, arms too. Everything got back together just enough that they worked, and he could feel the wrecked muscles screaming with agony.
But at least everything was working again, so he opened his eyes. Yeap, this was still the nightmare chamber that belonged to Azamel, the one that looked like Dolareido. Red rain fell on his face, and he stared up into the strange red sky as it did. He was still alive.
"Jack," a booming voice said.
"Azamel." He sighed relief as he sat up. Tried to sit up. His right hand found the street just fine, but his left hand didn't, cause it didn't exist. He almost fell over, but rebalanced and sat up eventually. Relieved as hell that it was Azamel, but god damn, everything hurt.
Slowly, Jack looked around, taking stock. Michael stood nearby, suit and body in better condition than Jack's, but the man struggled to keep standing. Too proud to just sit the fuck down. Garry wasn't. The other Gangrel sat ten feet off, by the curb in front of the now exposed basement they'd been fighting in. Just like Michael, his skin was royally fucked, covered in bite marks. The two Gangrel probably healed or resisted the first thousand rat bites, but the next thousand got through, and left their mark. If Kindred blood was as thin as human blood, they'd both be bleeding to death.
Jack looked down. The necklace was back on, thank god. Fuck you Ripper.
Jack found the Ripper's thoughts, the curse's impulses, it's almost erotic need to destroy and maim, and cast them into the candle in his mind. Not easy to do, with fire burning through his muscles and bones, but getting thoroughly trashed was becoming so routine, he adapted quickly. When his thoughts were clear and normal again, Jack looked back up at Azamel.
There she sat, literally five feet in front of him, cross legged so one of her enormous shins was beside him, like a wall. Her scimitars were still on the street, and her other weapon, or fishing tool or whatever it was, was still a scattered mess. She wasn't even trying to clean it up.
"You appear normal again," Azamel said.
"Thank god," Garry said. "That was... not fucking right."
The other Gangrel nodded. "Indeed. I was... unprepared for how vicious it would be. And strong."
Jack laughed, but it switched to an aching cough, and he clutched his chest with his only hand. Yeah, those ribs didn't like doing that.
"You can see why I want to get rid of it now, right?"
"Yes. I can."
Jack nodded, and looked to Garry, then back to Michael. "You guys... aren't fighting anymore."
Garry sighed as he shook his head. "You made... some good points, Jack."
Apparently Jack's boss didn't agree, or at least didn't like agreeing. Michael's scoffed, and shrugged. "You warned us something else was happening in the city, something I only have... a small awareness of. That sounded more important than my quarrel with Garry."
The Carthian leader laughed, but got the same result as Jack, wincing as his laugh ground to a halt. Yeah, none of them could do so much as bend over slightly without getting run over with pain, let alone laugh.
"If you hadn't spared Tilly, I'd say this was all bullshit. But I owe you for that."
Oh thank god, finally, communication. Actual talking.
"And..." Michael sighed and nodded toward the giant elephant monster. "Azamel spared us, if we agreed to a truce."
Spared. Scary to think Azamel was in a position to kill all three of them. Well, they had beaten each other fucking senseless.
No. Michael and Garry hurt him, and they'd hurt each other, but the Ripper beat the two Gangrels. It... he won that fight. And the only reason they were alive, and Jack was down, was because one of the most powerful entities probably on the fucking planet tricked him, pulled him into her nightmare realm where she was basically a god, and smashed him into the street hard enough to flatten a car. Multiple times.
"A truce is a good idea," Jack said. "And you fucking know it."
The two men sneered, at the same time. Which made them glance at each other, groan, and look away.
"Maybe," Garry said.
"Maybe? I remember what the Ripper said. He... told you guys a lot of shit I'd prefer he didn't. But like Michael said, he warned you about something more difficult than your fucking stupid quarrel."
Michael growled. "It's not--"
"It's fucking ludicrous. People are dead!"
Garry got up, teetered a bit, and pointed a finger at Jack. "Then why didn't you tell us about it!?"
"Because you were both so fucking head-up-your-asses angry at each other over stupid shit, we knew neither of you were smart or mature enough to handle the information! You'd tip off the enemy!" Jack shrugged, and regretted it immediately, grumbling as the boiling pain smacked him around again. "Avery is your friend, Garry, and even she didn't spill the beans. The fuck does that tell you?"
Garry glared at him for a few seconds before sighing and sitting down on the curb again, slowly, like an old man. He didn't look any of them in the eye anymore.
Jack spared a glance for Azamel. She sat there, breathing heavy and deep, like she was permanently winded. But she seemed willing to let him keep going on his rant. Hell, looked like she wanted him to.
"Michael. What happened between you and Amanda?"
Michael sighed as he looked away. "She told me a friend of hers, a kine, was killed by Carthians in a brawl. She said the Carthians were reckless, hungry for violence, and accidentally shot her friend while starting a fight with some Invictus. Amanda wanted revenge. She came to me with a plan, and I agreed."
"Yeah. Fuck you." Garry held up his hand to Michael, middle finger up.
That sounded a little strange. He hadn't heard anything like that from Invictus reports. "Did you double check the info?"
"No. She came to me the same night Garry attacked Xnomina. What reason would Amanda have to lie? It was a perfect opportunity."
Too fucking perfect. Something wasn't right.
"Make sure when you un-stake her that I'm there, Michael. Just you, me, and her. Damien too."
Giving his boss orders was a recipe for confrontation, and Michael glared at him, broken and torn up face ready to pop. But just like Garry, he took a few seconds to think about it -- finally, some motherfucking god damn reason -- and nodded.
Jack looked back up to Azamel. "You knew I was going to deal with these two like this?"
"Of course."
"How?"
Shrugging, the giant elephant gestured down at her side.
And out came Mark, a pile of squirming insects and rot. Literally. But at least Mark wore a dark, skin-like robe, giving his shape a human form, normal size. He had a skeleton in there too, but hard to see, among all the bugs crawling in and out of it.
He came out of the fucking shadow, something even the best Mekhet would struggle to do. The disgusting bastard was so damn good, Michael jumped back, and Garry almost jumped up ready to fight, before he realized the man wasn't a threat. Surprise, to fight-or-flight, to eventual disgust, as the man's rotting odor spread.
"Mark," Jack said. "Didn't the Prince warn you about spying on me?"
The man smirked. "I spied on you, not her."
Azamel chuckled, and lifted one of her fingers, closest to Mark. A subtle gesture, and Mark disappeared into her shadow again. Holy fuck he was good. No wonder he had the guts to spy on the Prince and Daniel in their own tower.
"I prepared," she said. "It is not easy to open a tunnel the way I did."
"Why did you?" he asked.
"Because if I hadn't, what would I be leaving my family? A broken city, about to suffer the wrath of an infantile curse."
He sighed as he looked her up and down. It took a lot out of her to do that. It took a lot out of her to flip a building and catch three powerful vampires, too. A lot out of her.
Nodding, Jack looked between the two Gangrels, thinking. He could keep yelling at them, and he kinda wanted to, but at this point both men were willing to talk. Yelling no longer required.
"Garry, Michael... Roland wo--"
Michael stepped closer and shook his head. "Don't, Mister Terry." Oh hey, he had a title again. "I can only forgive so much. You used a deeply personal issue between Garry and I to confront us. I... can understand why, and you made points I have to consider. Perhaps Garry and I have been letting our past poison our interactions."
Holy shit, what the fuck did they say to each other while he was out? Did Azamel play peacekeeper?
"But," Michael continued, "you are no longer to speak of it. Understand? So much as mention Roland's name, and it will not end well for you."
Jack nodded as he smiled up at the man. What Michael wanted to say, but couldn't, was Jack finally punched a little sense into his thick skull, but he better not try it twice.
"You'll start going to Primogen meetings again?"
"Yeah," Garry said, "so calm down. We already said truce. First thing we do when we get back, is get our covenants to back off each other."
"And Jeremy Long?"
"What about him? Dude is a cutthroat businessman, and he has the connections and the tech I needed. " He shrugged. "And you probably noticed, he ain't no pussy Ventrue or Invictus."
Michael and Jack rolled their eyes. Ok, well, insults were a lot better than bullets and fire grenades.
"And Mister Terry," Michael said, "we will be asking for more information about this threat you warned us about."
"I... I'll try and tell you what I can. But the more you know, the riskier shit gets."
The man rumbled in his throat. "Risk it."
