Bez, Matrix, Sigma, and Thande stood in the clearing, waiting for the others to show up.
“I thought we handled these creeps last time!” Sigma hissed.
“So did I.” Bez replied venomously. “Apparently, immortals don’t understand the concept of keeping their distance.”
Matrix shuddered. “I still can’t quite believe it. The accounts of the event have been fairly mucky, but…” He shook his head. “The nerve.”
A flash of motion drew the group’s attention. A tall, gaunt man entered the clearing.
“Hey, Sin.” Bez said, motioning beside her. “Once the rest of the pack shows up, we’ll be ready for those weirdies.”
Sin crossed the clearing, standing beside Bez.
“We were just discussing how much we loathed the immortal scum we’re about to…take care of.”
Sin nodded solemnly. “It is…surprising.”
Thande scoffed. “It is disgusting.” The bluntness of the statement was emphasized by a cold malevolence in his expression.
Another flash of motion brought Radium and Synapse to the clearing. Before they could settle, another person joined up quickly. He was tall and broad shouldered, with a trimmed beard and short graying hair the same dark shade as Bez’s. He had bright, mischievous eyes.
“Ah. That’s everyone.” Bez said, coolly skipping over the last man to join up- her father, Roark.
A brief pang of sorrow flashed over his face. He tried to hide the hurt Bez's cold reception caused by casually asking,
“So just what did these whelps do?”
“Sin has the full story.” Synapse replied calmly.
The group turned to Sin to give a full account. He shifted uncomfortably, looking nervously from face to face. At length, he began.
“As you know, I do a lot of traveling. Whilst on one of these travels, I came across an unsavory quartet that Bez, Matrix, Sigma, and Thande had previously encountered: Edward, Bella, Jacob, and Renesmee. They had managed to find a people who had no inkling of a thought of what vampires and werewolves are. Using this fact to their advantage, they were able to convince the people that they were, in some way, superior to them.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Once this disgusting system was established, they used it to obtain food. Quickly finding the animals this people had available not to their taste, they turned to the people themselves.”
Radium had started up a steady stream of swearing under his breath.
Sin continued. “As you can imagine, this…eventually led to problems, some of which I can’t go into detail on. I did what I was able to, but I’m afraid it wasn’t nearly enough. I arrived too late.” A bitter “as always” hung unspoken at the end of the sentence. “I was able to ease the pain of those more seriously affected, but the ‘immortals’-” He said the word with venom that was extremely uncharacteristic of him. “-left before I was able to confront them. I managed to glean where they would be heading next from the people.” He shook his head. “That’s all I know.”
“They sound like absolute gits.” Roark remarked, frowning.
Radium burst into loud cursing before taking a deep breath. “Dang freaking right.” He said murderously to Roark.
Roark smiled crookedly.
“What’s the plan of action, Bez?” Synapse asked.
“Simple. They show up, we tear them apart-not literally, Radium. At least, not yet. Despite their crap, they’re still people. Maybe.”
Matrix nodded. “Indeed.” He smiled wickedly. “I got a rather evil idea a few moments ago: dangle Bella and Renesmee over a tank of Sharkticons, get Edward and Jacob to fight to finish to save them, and then drop them all in the tank. All gone in one fell swoop.”
Sigma started. “Wait a minute, those things are real?”
Matrix sighed. “No, unfortunately not. Maybe Bez can build some, but until then, we’ll have to settle for plan B: doing it figuratively.”
“How’re we supposed to figuratively do that?” Bez interjected at this point.
“Oh, I imagine making them look like the idiotic creeps they are will do nicely as a start. From there blatant humiliation and imprisonment should do.”
Sin frowned. “They’re almost here.”
Bez smiled. “Excellent. Places everyone!” She looked over at Matrix, holding out a clenched fist. “Never bend.”
“Never break.” He replied, bumping her fist with his own.
Bez smiled, motioning the locations people should take.
The group split accordingly, waiting for the immortals. Soon, they were in earshot.
“Oh yes, my most perfectest husband, the people here will be even easier to take than the other idiots were!”
“Wonderful, my gorgeousest Bella.”
Roark mimed barfing, rolling his eyes.
Radium snickered.
The four entered the clearing. Bez’s group instantly surrounded them.
Renesmee squealed indignantly. “I remember you horrid people!" She whined, looking at the Nautilus crew. "But not you other guys! Do you taste good?”
“No, Nessie, remember, these people are sour!” Jacob said quickly, darting a nervous look at Sigma. She regarded him flatly.
Edward looked distastefully at the group. “Who are you horrid smelling people?”
Bez scoffed. “Oh, figures you wouldn’t remember us. Maybe this will ring a bell: “You are not perfect.”. Anything?”
Edward baulked, suddenly remembering four of the group. “You again! What do you want this time?”
Bez folded her arms assertively. “I thought we made it clear last time to keep your teeth to yourselves.”
Bella pouted. “Oh but my most perfect hubby needs his yummy blood, and so do-”
“Oh, shut up.” Sigma said tersely.
Jacob winced involuntarily.
Sigma's expression grew even icier. “You had the nerve to convince an innocent people that you were superior? YOU are about the furthest thing from superior that was ever spawned into the universe!”
Edward and Bella gaped at Sigma, their brains unable to grasp the concept.
Bez smiled wickedly, looking up at Thande. “Jog their memories, please.”
Thande nodded and stepped forward. In a quick motion, he knocked their heads together. The resulting sound was similar to a pair of watermelons colliding with each other.
Edward blinked, suddenly rejoining the world. “You-you rotten liar!” He said indignantly.
“It’s not true!” Bella said, pouting and placing her hands on her hips.
Synapse cocked his head, studying the pair. “You two are such twerps.” He said simply.
They spun to face him. “Who the heck are you?” Bella shrilled.
“Synapse, but that’s neither here nor there.”
“Well, Synapse, you’re a stupid little-”
“Hey!” Radium interjected. “I’m the only one allowed to trash-talk Synapse, and that’s because he’s my brother! You have no excuse, wench.”
“Wench!?” She wailed, sounding rather like a banshee. “How-how dare you-!?”
Meanwhile, ‘Nessie’ had been looking between Sin and Roark, trying to decide which one would be better tasting. She settled on Roark.
“BLOOOOD!” She shrieked, lunging towards him. Just as she was about to sink her fangs into Roark, he shoved a small gel capsule into her mouth. She chomped down on it, flooding her mouth with blue fluid.
A few moments later, her eyes began to droop. “Mommy, Daddy, I’m…tired…” She plopped down to the ground, snoring loudly.
Roark smiled crookedly. looking over at Bez.
She met his gaze with a cold stare, almost slap-like in its intensity.
Roark's smile cracked. He has scarcely begun to form a question when Jacob cut him off.
Jacob scowled at Roark. “What did you give her?”
Roark sighed in exasperation. "It was only a mild sedative. Your precious leach-baby will probably wake up in about ten minutes."
Jacob's scowl mutated into a rather bizarre looking pout. "You shouldn't have done that."
Roark snorted disparagingly. "Right, I was just supposed to let her bleed me! You need to get your priorities straight."
Jacob frowned, clearly perplexed. "What could be more important than Nessie?"
Roark shook his head, disgusted.
Matrix looked at the group. Everyone was engaged in various personal conflicts. “Hey, people! Let’s bring it back, shall we? Start from the beginning, make our way through the plan like we’re supposed to.”
The group returned to order, not without a few dirty looks and snide comments being exchanged.
“Let’s start with displaying what idiotic creeps you are.”
Bella and Edward baulked. “Creeps?! Idiotic?!” They wailed.
“Should we use smaller words?” Bez asked caustically.
Jacob laughed nervously, attempting to get in their good graces. He was still regarding Sigma warily.
“Shut up, butt-kisser.” Sigma hissed.
He winced. “Sorry, I’m sorry, but-”
“Just be quiet! You are so ANNOYING!”
Jacob went quiet, managing to look like a frightened dog.
Bez smiled dryly and continued. “See, we already established how much we dislike you. But there are four more people who haven’t. And trust me, they’ll all come up with good points against you.”
“Me first!” Radium quipped. “Okay, one thing that I really don’t get: why do people drool over you? I mean seriously, you’re undead cannibals.”
“We are not!” Edward whined indignantly. “We’re vegetarian-”
“You guys are practically rancid.” Radium ran over Edward’s comment as though he hadn’t said a word.
“Yeah, but vampires are smexy.” Jacob cut in.
“Oh, really? Hannibal Lecter is a cannibal. Any one here find Hannibal Lecter sexy? Cannibalism is cannibalism, you tweeb.”
“This is ridiculous-I don’t have to stand around and be insulted! Come on Edward, we’re leaving!” Bella whined. They moved to leave.
Everyone simultaneously readied their weapons. Everything from Blast Cannons to Burners to various bladed weapons was pointed directly at the immortals.
Bez smiled cruelly. “As you can see, we have an arsenal of weaponry even ‘immortals’ like you would find a bit of a handful. You try to leave, we’ll have you dismantled in a matter of seconds.”
“So don’t even try, scum.” Synapse hissed, his personality altered to what Radium jokingly called “Battle Mode”.
“You can’t keep us here!” Edward whined.
“Wanna bet?” Matrix drawled.
“We don’t intend on killing you.” Sin said, speaking for the first time since the immortals had arrived. “But if we have to, we are fully capable.”
Bella sneered at him. “Who are you supposed to be, freak?”
“My name is unimportant. I was there at the last community you ravaged. I tried to repair the damage you did, but the scarring is severe. And you just moved on, never giving a single thought to the lives you shattered.” His expression became dark. “There is a species like you-a species I have been commanded to destroy.”
Jacob baulked, rightfully afraid.
Sin rarely got angry. When he did, he became capable of incredible cruelty. Even Edward and Bella grasped the danger they were in.
“You won’t do anything to us.” Edward said haughtily, trying and failing to cover up his fear.
“Are you sure?” Sin said quietly, standing in front of Edward. He held out a hand, index finger extended. “One touch, and you will be in agony the rest of your life. One touch, and your mind will go dark, lost forever in itself. You are putty, to be shaped as I will.”
Bez shuddered, remembering the three Ghaul from when she first met Sin: reduced to whimpering, mindless shells of what they had been. And the Ghaul were trained to resist the mental attacks of the Enth. Edward, Bella, and Jacob had no such training.
“I could turn your minds inside out.” Sin said coldly, clenching his fist.
Edward fidgeted uncomfortably.
“That’s impossible.” Bella said haughtily. “We’re perfect, and you’re a stupid, ugly man with no name.”
Sin shook his head regretfully. “Bad answer.” He reached out and touched her temple.
Bella’s eyes went dark, her body going limp.
“For I have walked the paths of the mind, where you are afraid to go…” He muttered.
Synapse looked nervously at Radium, who only shrugged.
“Sin, that’s enough.” Bez said. “Put her back, Sin-we’re not finished with them yet.”
Sin blinked, his expression changing quickly. He drew his hand back quickly, as though it had been burned.
Bella blinked. “Oh my…” She said quietly. “Edward, we have to get away from these horrid people! We have to! I don’t like them!”
“Oh right, you don’t like someone so you think you can just avoid the problem?” Bez spat. “You really are absolutely insufferable. I’ll admit it, you’re stronger than I am, but certainly not smarter or better in any other aspect. Sin was fully capable of ripping Bella’s consciousness to shreds, and did he? No. I’d like to see what you would do with that kind of power.”
Roark chuckled roughly. “Probably end up messin’ up their own brains.”
“We would not!” Edward squealed.
“Shut up!” Sigma screamed.
Bez looked over at Sigma in surprise.
“You people are so infuriating! You don’t understand anything another person goes through! All your ‘problems’ are pathetic and you’re all-you’re so-” She was unable to continue, quivering with rage.
Jacob cowered. “You’re so right, Sigma, we don’t get it-”
“Shut up!” She punched him sharply in the stomach. “You pathetic cur! You-”
“Yes, yes, I am, just stop-”
“You spineless little-” She clenched and unclenched her fists, too furious to think.
Thande nodded approvingly.
The motion seemed to make Edward, Bella, and Jacob aware of his presence for the first time. “Oh my-you still have that thing?”
Thande let out a soft, exasperated breath. “I am used to people’s reactions to my presence, but I have lost patience with you.”
Jacob cowered. “Oh please, don’t, I’ll be a good little-”
A look from Thande silenced him.
Matrix chuckled. “I never knew you were such a little worm, Jacob. Why, any one of us could squash you under our boots.” As if to emphasize the point, Matrix ground his heels in the dirt casually.
Jacob swallowed nervously.
Bez cleared her throat. “Well, back to the point, h’m? Radium and Sin got out what they needed to. That leaves Synapse and Roark.”
Synapse sheathed his weapon and shrugged. “All I would say has been said. Besides, these guys aren’t worth the effort.”
Roark smiled dryly. “Well then, my turn!” He looked at Edward, sizing him up. “You’re a pale, arrogant, whiny bum.” He looked over Bella. “You’re a peevish, delusional, conceited scrap.” He turned his attention to Jacob. “Last and least, you’re an overbearing, butt-kissing, pathetic whelp.” He looked over at Bez. “Well, I’m done. Like he said, not worth too much effort.”
Bella looked around at them and drew herself up proudly. “What, that’s all you’re going to do?”
“And you’re ugly.” Roark added, his eyes glinting mischievously.
Bella shrieked. “Edward, make that man take that back!”
“I wouldn’t do that.” Radium said wickedly. “There are…let’s see, eight of us, and four of you, counting the pup. So you round up about five hundred of your vampire and werewolf friends, and we’ll have a semi-even fight.”
Edward gaped. “You-how dare you say that!”
“Oh, can it, pale-boy. We’re almost done with you. We’re going to imprison you.” Bez said, smiling. “Sorry to rain on your cannibalistic parade, but we’re not just going to let you go out deceiving and feasting on innocents.”
Matrix smiled suddenly. “Bez, we should stick these guys with the PETAM lady.”
Synapse and Radium chuckled.
“I would consider that most appropriate. But how do we know they won’t just eat her?”
“Oh, that’s rather simple, Synapse. We pull their teeth out.”
All three of them gasped, covering their mouths protectively.
Radium grinned wickedly, miming a pair of pincers with his hands.
Jacob turned suppliantly to Sigma. “Oh, please don’t let them do that to me, please, I’ll be your good little-”
Sigma lunged at him, smacking him repeatedly in the head with her Burner. “Shut up you stupid worm! You disgust me!” Each word was punctuated by a blow. By the time Sigma finished her sentence, Jacob was on his knees. “I hate you and everything about you and gosh friggin’ dang it I want to bludgeon the crap out of you!”
Bez watched, amused. “So, where should we drop them?” She asked casually. “Any suggestions?”
“I could swing something.” Roark offered helpfully.
Bez frowned at him disapprovingly. “Since you've proven to be so reliable." She shot acridly, years of bitterness saturating the comment.
Roark frowned, an honestly imploring expression on his face. "If you would just listen to me for-"
“I’ll consider it.” Bez said dismissively. “Anyone else have an idea?”
“Bez, I’m thinking we should let your dad handle this-let me explain, okay? You still don't have the whole story, and if his expiriences in the past decades can help us bag these creeps, I say we take it.”
Bez looked witheringly at Matrix.
Roark nodded enthusiastically, and darted a grateful look at Matrix. “Listen to him, please, Bez."
Bez turned away from Roark and was about to walk away. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face him. "Look, I can help-"
"I don't want your help!” Bez snapped, roughly shoving his hand away from her. "In fact, I don't want anything to do with you! I'd be fine if you just dropped dead!"
Edward smiled snidely and looked like he was about to stick his abnormally sparkly nose where it didn't belong. A particularly sharp glance from Thande kept him in his place.
It took Roark a moment to fully register what Bez said. He looked earnestly surprised. When the hurt set in, there was a freshness to it that drew sympathy from the softer crewmen.
“You wouldn't have asked me here if that was true." He said quietly, after a long pause.
For a few moments, Bez looked conflicted. It passed swiftly, though. "Like it matters." She said bitterly, turning her back to Roark.
He began to speak but stopped abruptly, as if frightened that what he said might only worsen matters.
Once she was satisfied Roark was done talking, Bez turned to the immortals. Renesmee was waking groggily. “You’re going into the custody of Roark Marshall. I assume you’ll try to escape. And I assume you have back-ups for when they do.” She added somewhat stiffly, glancing sharply at Roark over her shoulder.
"I can mix some more potent sedatives, if necessary." Roark said, trying to maintain as even a tone as possible.
"It'll do." Bez said curtly.
"Yuck!" Renesmee protested. "I want blood, not a sedative!"
“We can hear you, you know?!” Edward squealed shrilly.
“Oh, shuddup. Like your opinion matters.” Radium said icily. “Bag ‘em and tag ‘em.”
The group resisted weakly before they were safely secured with gravity-locked handcuffs.
“Don’t try to break ‘em, pups.” Roark said casually. “Even the likes of you can’t outmatch gravity.”
As if to spite the point, Jacob struggled pathetically for a few moments before losing his balance and falling flat on his face. Sigma kicked him sharply in the ribs.
“Help me load ‘em up, bots? Last thing I want is a bunch of idiots trying to make a break for it on the way to the ship.” Roark asked.
Radium, Synapse and Matrix each picked up one of the immortals. Roark disdainfully picked up a groggy Renesmee. They began to head off to Roark’s ship. “See you around, Bez?” He asked, a faint note of hope in his voice.
At first, it seemed Bez wasn't going to reply. She added a stiff "Maybe." at length.
Roark brightened, but knew not to push his luck. He followed Radium and Synapse out of the clearing.
Matrix looked back sympathetically before following after him.
Bez looked at the remaining group. “Assuming the immortals get sufficiently imprisoned, I say we have reason to celebrate. The bots’ll be for it. You coming, Sin?”
He shook his head. “Not much of a party person.”
“Come on, just once? Matrix has been promising to teach Sigma the Electric Slide for weeks now. And we all know how much rhythm Sigma has.”
“Shut up.” Sigma said. ‘I’m just glad those creeps are finally being put away.”
“If they remain imprisoned, their allies will come to their aid.” Thande pointed out.
Bez nodded. “Well, yeah, there is that. It just means more for us to snatch. Heck, it’ll make it easier. They come to us, we can bag ‘em with hardly a struggle. Besides," She added wryly. "You assume they HAVE allies."
Matrix, Radium and Synapse returned.
“Well, he’s off.” Synapse remarked. “He promised to drop us a link when they were secured.”
“Yeah, and I heard talk of a celebration!” Radium quipped.
Bez nodded. “Yup. And Sin might even come to this one.”
The group turned expectantly to Sin.
He frowned, fidgeting uncomfortably. “Oh, fine. I’ll come.” He said, at length. “But just this time.”
“Now we’re in!” Bez whispered to Matrix. “We get ‘im to come to one, we can get ‘im to come to all. Let the rebuilding begin!”
Matrix smiled, and the group headed off to the ships.
Harry Potter And The Twilight Hunger Games
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