FicWad

Chapter 12

Now there were four of them outside of Mimoun. Mimoun noticed the friar, and he said, “Away with your holy magic, Nazarene, you cannot possibly defeat us.”
“Let’s find out, shall we?” and the friar jumped into the fray. As they did, the four of them began a rhythmic dance, and Jean-Claude began to suspect something bad. First, they were moving very quickly. Second, they were almost frothing at the mouth. Clarice then warned them, and told them the things they have ingested, which Ai said was the equivalent of PCP. “Great!” thought Jean-Claude, “Their adrenal glands are working overtime, they’re as strong as an ox, and they will feel no pain!”
Worse, his suspicions were fulfilled when Ren charged one of them, and he quickly went down. The bokor had jumped into the air, and he spun around in the air, hitting him with both feet as he did, and then he landed on his feet, going back into his dance. “Watch out!” said Jean-Claude, “They’re doped up and they fight Capoeria.”
One closed in on Jean-Claude and swung is staff. He instinctively blocked with his sword, and despite his own enhanced strength, and due to his state of being, it felt like someone hit his elbow with a baseball bat. He realized that the sword would actually get in his way, so he stepped back, sheathed it, and took them on hand to hand. One was on Antonio, but he showed that he was equal to the task. The sound of clomping wood and shouting filled the park. Despite the man’s efforts, Antonio was equal to the task. However the girls were with Kenta, and Kenta ramped up his own g’hul abilities and dove under the bludgeon. However, the man brought up his knee to Kenta’s chin. Then, with an acrobatic move, he was behind Kenta, and in one swift move, he brought up the staff under his chin, he put his knee into Kenta’s back, and pulled. In one swift move, there was a loud crack, and Kenta’s back was broken. He then turned his attention to the girls. He dove into the girls, working off instinct, seeing targets to hit. Yet, Anjou thrust her hand forward with Karin, and the man went flying. He hit a tree, cracking two ribs. However, due to his state, he was up on his feet, back into the fray. Yet, being so doped up, he could not tell that Kenta had already healed himself, and clothes lined him with one mighty leap. The man went tail over teet and hit the ground hard. Kenta then took the man’s head, and turned it completely around. Even in that state, there was no getting up from that. While all that was going on, one charged Clarice. All she did was reach into her bag, put her hand to her mouth, palm up, and blew the powder that was in her hand. He staggered, and then collapsed. Clarice put a smug smile on her face, knowing that there were more efficient ways than fighting. She then began to saunter towards Mimoun.

Antonio was still able to keep his opponent at bay, showing that he was indeed equal to the task. He finally caught his opponent with a leg sweep, and Antonio brought his staff across his chin. There was a crack as he shattered the jaw of the man. Yet, his drugged state did not allow him to feel the pain, and with a kippup, he was on his feet. The man was back on Antonio, but he did not see Ai slip up to him. With her speed, she popped the staff out of the bokor’s hand, and palm struck him to the ground. When he was up, she extended her nails and ripped him open. The man staggered and then fell dead. The Friar said, “Did you have to kill him?”
“In his state,” said Ai, “There was no restraining him. It is this, or cripple him, and crippling him would take too much time, and risk him getting a chance to finish you off. Believe me, friar; he would not have cared about killing you.”
Jean-Claude had a maniac on his hands. The man danced and swung fast enough to keep Jean-Claude on the defensive. However, this was the way he normally liked it. If someone was that aggressive, he would normally let his opponent either get tired, or wait for him to make that one mistake that Jean-Claude could exploit and end the fight in one swift move. Finally, the man thrust forward, and Jean-Claude popped up his middle knuckle and hit a major nerve just before his armpit. This is a move that normally paralyzes an opponent due to the pain, and because body begins to shut things down, thinking that, something bad has happened to the body. The man did not feel the pain, but every joint in his body locked up, because of all the mixed signals hitting the brain. It was bad enough with that, but add to that his doped up state, and it made matters worse in his synapses. He was frantic trying to move against his body, which had more sense than he did in wanting to stop. His state of mind would not let him comprehend why he could not act. Once this happened, Jean-Claude took him down with a Russian leg sweep, restraining his leg and head. Jean-Claude then took his fore knuckle and rammed it into the man’s Vegas nerve. By striking this nerve, his whole body thought that he was working too hard. Normally, someone’s heartbeat would slow to the point of rendering one’s opponent unconscious. However, because of his mind, the adrenal glands overdid the slowing of the heart, and his heart stopped completely. The man shook a couple of times, and then collapsed, dead. He threw off the body to go help Ren.

However, Ren had his own ideas. He was far more careful with his attack. Indeed, a human that was doped up on this kind of drug was a formidable opponent. It would be like fighting a g’hul that had full understanding of his ability. Ren then knew that he had to be cleverer, and outsmart his opponent. The man danced, flailed, and swung at Ren, who was having all he could do to stop his man. Ren then remembered what Jean-Claude had taught him, and waited for his opening. When it came, he quickly reached out and grabbed the man’s forehead, pressing his fingers as hard as he could around the edges of that area. Again, the man could feel no pain, but the body knew better about the situation, and it began to react to the trauma the claw hold was making. Ren had grabbed his wrist with the other hand to steady his hand and to insure a sold grip. The man was beginning to go to his knees, but his sweat caused Ren to lose his grip. Yet, when the man staggered back, he spun right into Francois, who, being a Savate expert himself, quickly moved in, snapped his wrists, bent one leg the wrong way at the knee, and let the man fall. The man convulsed, too doped up to know that he was supposed to be screaming in pain. He tried several times to get to his feet, and, of course, kept falling down when he tried to put his weight on his shattered knee and torn ligaments, with his leg flailing around like it was on a marionette. He then turned to Anjou, and said, “C’était pour vous, ma petite Chou.”
Anjou maintained her stern look as she nodded. Francois was more satisfied to see this rather than be merciful and kill him outright. Now there was only one left.

While the fight was going on, Clarice approached Mimoun, hoping to end things that night, but Mimoun could see how things were going. In reality, he was actually testing them. He knew they would be tough, and he wanted to see how things would go. Now, if they won, that would be a bonus. At least, this way, he knew what he faced, and knew what he would have to throw at them to stop them. He was already leaving the area, hoping not to be noticed in the fray. However, Clarice saw this, and charged after him. It was too late, because he was already on the move. Yet, it was not too lake for Chiyuki, who was livid that, at the very least, a great evening had been ruined. Despite the transformation that Karin’s blood had made, she was still just as fast as she ever was, much to her relief. Mimoun had only gotten fifty meters from the park entrance when she jumped in front of him. “Leaving so soon?” she asked, with a hiss in her voice. He grinned, which enraged Chiyuki even more, although his hatred was great enough to make her more enraged beyond that. He quickly went into his pocket, but Chiyuki had that wrist as if she had just materialized next to him—exactly what he wanted. She was gripping tight enough that, in a matter of seconds, his wrist would be shattered. Yet, he was still able to ignite the lighter that was in his pocket, and push it under her palm. She screamed as she wrenched her hand back in pain. This was all the time he needed. In one swift stroke, he reached into his jacket, opened a small glass bottle, dipped in a straw, put his thumb over the top, extracted it, and re-corked the bottle…

While all this was happening, they were trying to determine what to do next. Friar Antonio then asked, “Why do we not just inform the authorities?”
“Friar,” said Jean-Claude, “I’m sorry, but that is a ridiculous thought, even for you. No offense, but I could just see us calling the police right now and saying, ‘Yes sir, a bunch of voodoo warriors were trying to kill the local vampire clan, could you come out and clean this up?’
Just as much as I fear exposure of our Clan too soon, I also fear them bringing the little white wagon for telling them about a scene from a bad horror movie, and for us really believing that such things are true!”
Antonio laughed at himself, and his odd request, saying, “I am sorry: this is not what I normally deal with on a regular basis!”
“Then we have to get them up the hill and dispose of the bodies somehow…” but he stopped as everyone heard a blood curdling scream coming from the street outside. Quickly everyone came out to see Chiyuki on her knees, screaming in pain and flailing around, with her hands cupped over her eyes. Pink and red were oozing out from between her fingers. Mimoun had not used some trick, but he carefully blew hydrofluoric acid into her eyes, and swiftly left. She was in so much pain, made worse by her crying. She was screaming and bawling uncontrollably and beyond consolation. If looks could kill, and had that look been directed at Mimoun if he had been there, Ren would have vaporized him. Clarice pulled out a plastic bottle with some water, and she said, “Elder one, you can grow your eyes back, but in order to do that, I must rinse out the mess. What hit you?”
“ACID!” she screamed.
“Then we must rinse out the sockets before the residue seeps into your brain,” said Antonio, “Ren, help me hold her down. Jean-Claude and Francois, pull her hands away.”
They restrained her, but had a hard time of doing it. She knew what was coming, knew it was what she needed, but at the same time, she knew would hurt even more. She screamed and pleaded for them to stop, but they could not listen to her. Just the extra exposure to the night air made it worse. Then Clarice began to pour in the water. Chiyuki wished at that point to be dead, but that would not come, nor would unconsciousness. She felt the whole ordeal. Once everything was rinsed out well, all that was left were the sockets. Within three or four days, she would have her eyes back, but she would be blind until them. Once she could see well enough, she could then flesh craft the scarring left behind where the acid had hit her face. Now that it was rinsed out, the pain subsided, and the cool air was actually a bit soothing, but it still stung. Karin took off a scarf that she was wearing and put it around her sockets. They helped her to her feet, and she was now sobbing into Ren’s chest, with a horrible headache. Karin kept away from her, lest her blood rise. Jean-Claude was livid. He went back to the spot of the fight. He was going to have them take the bodies to the hill and figure out what to do, but now, he was too enraged to think straight. Antonio said, “My son, please, do not let wrath overtake you. You know it does not work the righteousness of God.”
He turned around and grumbled to the friar, vamped out, “Worry not! I am only going to help them get to their eternal home a bit faster.”
Francois and Anjou took the hint and followed behind. When they saw the bodies, and the one man still flailing around, Jean-Claude’s blood began to boil, and he let out a primal roar as he extended his hands and flames shot out and ignited the bodies. However, the one that had been unconscious had come to, and he began to charge the trio. That was his last action. Anjou and Francois extended their hands and repeated the process. The man screamed like a woman and began to flail around. Even the drug still in his system could not block the pain the entire surface of his skin ignited. Jean-Claude turned around and said, “Let’s go home.”
Kenta said, “What about the police? What will they say when they see this?”
Calmer, Jean-Claude said, “Trust me, Kenta, the police will have no clue as to what to do with this.”

When they returned, Fumio, Calera, and Elda were on the porch, talking women talk when they saw the pack return. It did not take much to realize what had happened. The women came up, and Jean-Claude said, “Get her to bed; she is going to need the blood of hatred, as much as you can obtain.”
“What happened,” said Elda.
“That monster Mimoun burned out her eyes,” snapped Karin. She was angry in a way that was rare for her.
Calera and Fumio got her upstairs and made her as comfortable as they could while the others spoke. “Sacre Bleu, monsieur D’Amphile, what was that with which they fought ?”
“That was Capoeria,” said Jean-Claude, “It is a fighting style that is very efficient, despite the seeming exposure they make when they do their moves. Slaves in South America developed it, and hid their learning of it from their masters by disguising it in a dance. Some of those slaves spread it to the southern United States and Hispaniola.”
“If they have mastered that,” said Clarice, “and if they come at us en masse, doped up, as you say, they could actually be able to do us harm.”
“How many do you think are coming?” asked Jean-Claude.
“That was just a probing mission, I fear,” said Antonio, “At least, I think so.”
“It very well could have been,” said Clarice, “and Mimoun now knows what he faces.”
“Do you think the full force of the Clan would be able to fight it?” said Jean-Claude.
“It would give us better odds,” said Clarice, “but I am afraid of them becoming more covert. We are going to have to put together a good plan.”
“We also have to put this on a ground of our choosing,” said Antonio, “and we must try to resolve this with minimal force.”
“Friar, I think it’s too late to turn the other cheek,” said Karin.
“I do not say that to try to avoid the fight,” said Antonio, “but the safety of your wedding, and keeping the fight low key is what is needed. I understand what risking this much exposure would do. If it came down to all out turf war, there could be a worse problem for you. At that point, they could accomplish their goals without having to fight any further. This must be taken into account if tonight was any indication of future events.”

About five minutes passed before anyone said anything. Finally, Elda said, “Jean-Claude, initiate me!”
His jaw hit the floor. He knew she still had her problems, and he was about to ask for an explanation. However, Elda said, “Don’t worry, pet, because I did not think that there are still imbecilic humans like this around. The humans you have brought in make our foes look like Neanderthals compared to the Clan. Besides, I know that you could use my experience, and this all has to stop. At the very least, if my joining brings peace to my granddaughter, then it would be worth it.”
“Then we are going to have an emergency meeting of the Clan tomorrow night, take care of things then, and then discuss what we must do. We have to have a great game plan, or else everything that we are trying is going to collapse like a house of cards.”

While all this was going on, a certain cat discovered the campsite of the bokor, and obtained from there what he needed. He then proceeded to perform an old ritual of transformation that was rarely done by vampires. Myth declares that vampires can change themselves into bats, wolves, and other creatures of the night at will. However, the truth is that it takes much to change, and many times, the changer had to remain in that state for a time. However, Neko had been this way for some time, and now the time had come to go back, because a certain pretty, purple clad vampire had need of him. Besides, with the upcoming fight, he knew he would be needed.