DISCLAIMER

The X-Men, Excalibur, X-Force and other X-teams are trademarks of Marvel Comics. The 'World of Darkness' and its environs are trademark the White Wolf game company. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copyright to me.

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at

mark_shakespeare@lineone.net

Notes:

< > indicates thoughts

Mark Shakespeare presents :

The Apocalypse War - part 14

"She's a WHAT?!" Cat tensed, brown eyes flashing anger, hand going to her klaive, and Logan growled deep in his throat. Jubilee stepped between them, and Hank, tending to Amanda's wounds, readied himself to jump between the two Garou and their new acquaintance. Meggan merely blinked, slowly, and stared at the two werewolves.

"She's on our side, guys! She helped save Amanda, remember? Look, I know you an' the Undead aren't exactly friends, but we need all the help we can get, right? So, like, someone who can fight like she can, what's the harm in letting her tag along?" The little Amerasian girl really didn't want any bad blood between the members of the party who were trying to stop .... whatever it was that Pentex, and Illyana Rasputin, had in mind. But she felt that someone who could fight as well as Meggan had demonstrated she could, vampire or not, deserved at least to be allowed to continue existing, as long as she fought on the side of Right.

Logan wasn't listening, but Cat decided to do a little exploration. Though the Striders as a whole hated all Vampires, they were also outsiders to Garou society, and many of them, Cat included, didn't feel constrained to follow the rules that bound the rest of their people. She called upon Gaia's gift, Sense the Wyrm, to see just how corrupt the vampire in front of her actually was. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she moved just in time to grab Logan's arm and stop him attacking. "Logan, enough! Yes, she's a vampire, but she isn't corrupt through and through. If anything, there's a touch of the Wyld about her. And she says she's a Gangrel. I remember hearing about that bloodline before - many of them are defenders of the natural places of the world. This one doesn't stink of the Wyrm the way that others do!" She guessed that her words wouldn't be enough to calm the stocky former Get of Fenris down, and tensed herself, ready to block any move by the shorter man.

It was good that she did. With a growl of rage, the grizzled warrior threw himself at the vampire in front of him, already shifted into the more powerful man-beast form, halfway to the deadly Crinos shape of full battle. Meggan merely smiled, and, using her inhuman speed, moved to one side, her open palm smacking the attacking Garou across the face. He snarled, and lunged again, but this time, Cat managed to grasp his arm and spin him around, kicking his legs from under him and knocking him to the ground. She stared at him as he glared back at her.

"What the fuck do ya think ya doin', Cat? This is a fuckin' Leech, dammit! I thought you an' the other Striders were supposed ta hate their guts!" The shorter man seemed almost ready to attack the slender young woman standing before him, so great was his rage. Hank wondered if he should intervene, after shifting to his own massive battle-form first, but decided against such a move - it was more likely to enrage the Garou warrior, given that the Gurahl and the Get were age-old enemies.

"We do. But we're also not berserkers like you and the Get, or the Red Talons or Fianna. We think before we act - we're the scouts of the Garou, remember? Unlike you and the other warrior tribes, we can't just throw ourselves into combat with anyone we don't like. We have to evaluate the situation, balance gains and losses. And right now, a vampire who might be able to help, in future conflicts if not in this matter, is too valuable to just destroy out of hand, the way you want to. Got it?" She stared into his hard, angry eyes.

He locked gazes with her, neither of them backing down. He respected her, knew that she was more clever than he was, but his nature, even though now a Ronin, was too much that of the Get, too in love with the use of violence and the philosophy of his old tribe, that 'might makes right', for him to back down so easily, And she had thrown him to the ground. For any other Get, that would have been an insult which could only be washed away in blood, his or hers.

But he had gone beyond the other members of the Get, had grown to realise that his tribe didn't have a monopoly on courage, that the Get could too easily forsake good advice for the love of combat, and lose the war due to their short-term thinking. It was such thoughts that had gotten him exiled from his tribe - though he could think himself lucky that his erstwhile tribe mates hadn't done any more than that.

He nodded sharply, and stared at Meggan through slitted eyes.

She smiled sweetly, fangs glinting in the starlight.

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He sloshed through the stagnant water and other, more unmentionable substances. His experiences had inured him to such scents, and he ignored the rats which skittered out of the dim red light of his fading torch. He kept his eyes and ears open for any sign that those he sought were nearby.

Yet he was still taken by surprise when a hand fell on his shoulder. "You look for us, stranger?"

Pete froze, then looked back over his shoulder, straight into the eyes of the hulking monster which stood so close to him. It stood at least seven feet tall, with bone-white skin, yellow eyes and fangs, huge long nails like claws, and scars raked across its face. "I'm lookin' fer someone called Caliban. That you, by any chance?"

The huge figure regarded him curiously. "Maybe-friend is not Kindred?" He sniffed Pete. "Smells like warm blood."

The thin ex-Fomor glared at the other being. "I ain't on the friggin' menu, okay? Listen. I'm owed a debt by one o' yer kind, name o' Karsten, see? So, I pass on the debt e' owes ter me ter you, an' you get ter reclaim it sometime."

The massive vampire regarded him with curious eyes. "Karsten is one of the Ventrue, not one of us Nosferatu. How did stinkyman come to help him?"

Pete snorted in wry amusement. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, see? The wanker was in a hole, trapped by friggin' werewolves, so I got the bastard out from under their noses, usin' a Pentex backway. So 'e owes me fer 'is friggin' existence. An' now yer got the chance ter take over the debt. If yer 'elp me ter get away from those 'o're followin' me. Deal?"

Caliban nodded, a smile on his bone-white face. "Follow me, little stinkyman."

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Kurt held Amanda close, breathing in her scent. The thought that she might have been slain by the Fomorians filled him with dread, lightened only by the fact that she was still alive. < But they know now that she helped one of their enemies. She will not be safe here any longer, nor will the other members of the kumpania. We will have to leave here, as soon as is possible. The rest of the kumpania must be warned, so that they can flee to safety. Assuming anywhere is safe anymore ... >

The blue-green eyes blinked, then focussed upon him. "K-Kurt, is that you?"

"Ja, who else?"

With a sob, Amanda threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. He held her as she cried, his arms a comforting support for her. They stayed like that, locked together in a wordless embrace, for about a minute, before Amanda regained her composure. She stared at him. "H-how did you know?"

"Margali sent us a message that you were in danger. We came as soon as we were able. How are you feeling, if that is not a stupid question?"

"It is." Her voice quavered, then steadied. "A damn stupid question, Kurt Wagner. How do you think I feel, after what that monster put me through?!" She glared at him, relief mixed with anger at what she saw as his insensitivity. She knew she was being unfair, but she felt the need to take her feelings out on someone, and he was the best person present.

He knew what she was thinking, and let her rant at him for a while, but the pressing need to move from their current location before a Pentex team arrived to see what had happened to the missing operatives made him cut her short. "Liebchen, I know that you have had a terrible experience, but we cannot stay here any longer. Soon the enemy will send more troops to locate us, and we cannot afford a full-scale battle. We must go, Amanda, and go right now."

The blond haired, blue-green eyed sorceress opened her mouth to argue, but Logan cut her short. "We ain't got time ta argue, lady, we gotta go. Pentex always keep tabs on their people, they don't trust 'em, not even Fomori, an' they'll know somethin's happened." He looked over to Cat, who was releasing the few nature spirits which had survived the battle with the Bane-spirits. "Cat, where we goin' now? We got ta get the sorceress back ta her people - "

"We can't - it's too dangerous, she has to come with us." The rest stared at the slender brunette in amazement until she explained her reasoning. "The enemy, they know who she is, they'll be looking for her. Piotr's probably sent a film of her torture, so they know her face, as well as her name. If she goes back to the kumpania, they'll spot her, identify her, and kill her as well as the rest of the kumpania. The only way to safeguard the others is for her to accompany us."

Logan growled in annoyance - he hated the thought of having yet another tagalong on their mission, Meggan and Jubilee were quite enough for him. But Kurt was nodding his agreement, Amanda looked pensive as she pondered the danger her help for the Garou had put her kumpania in, and Jubilee just shrugged. As far as the Amerasian girl was concerned, one extra person more or less made no difference. Hank merely smiled, and Jubilee wondered how the hulking Gurahl had come to know the vampire previously - she hadn't missed his comment "it has been a while, has it not?". Though the Werebears might not be the Warriors of Gaia, they were nevertheless one of Her defenders, and the vampires were supposed to be their enemies, weren't they? Before she could approach Hank, however, Cat got the disparate group moving.

"Dimitri, you and the others will have to leave us now. I want you to leave a false trail, you know what to do, then get yourselves out of sight. Go to ground, wait a few weeks maybe, before you go back to the kumpania - it'll be safer for you and for them. You'll have to leave the van somewhere, so take anything moveable. We're getting out of here by foot. See you around - I hope. Okay, people- " she turned to Jubilee and the others - "time to scoot. Grab anything valuable, and get moving. Logan, lead the way. You know the back alleyways round here - get us somewhere private. Hank, Kurt, Amanda, Jubilee - in the middle. Meggan - " her eyes fixed on the vampire for a few seconds, then she gave a mental shrug - the die had already been cast. "Meggan - you're rearguard. I'll cover our tracks. Okay, move out, people - we can't wait here any longer."

*********************************************

The thin, wiry man stared around him, his face showing no fear despite the twisted and grotesque visages which now surrounded him. The Nosferatu stared at the man, curious as to why someone so obviously not one of them had come amongst them, and wondering why he showed no fear of them. The simple fact was, Pete Wisdom had seen so many sights in his life, ever since he'd been recruited by Pentex, that the vampires gathered around him paled compared to some of the beings he'd encountered, even worked alongside.

Caliban was speaking to one of the other vampires, and Pete guessed that the other Nosferatu was the group leader. < So long as they get me away from the Pentex First team wot's comin' after me, I don't care wot they do. > He scowled at the vampires crowding round him - they were getting too interested for his liking, he wanted to be able to walk away from them, not have to destroy them all. < Assumin' I could. This lot's noted fer bein' able ter disappear in plain view, ain't they. Make 'em bloody 'ard ter finish off if they did get stroppy ...... >

Then Caliban and the other Nosferatu began walking back to him. Pete sized up the woman walking next to the hulking white-skinned vampire. She had a face which looked part animal, only one eye, and deep scars cutting across her face from one side to the other. Her arms were of different lengths and her black, witchy hair stuck out from her neck like a cat's mane. All in all, Pete thought, she couldn't be anything other than a Nosferatu.

The two vampires halted in front of him, and the woman eyed him up. "Callisto." Her voice grated like a rusty gearwheel.

"Wisdom." His voice, harsh as it was, seemed melodic by comparison with hers.

"Cal says you've got something to trade - a favour for a favour, right?" She waited for his nod of agreement. "Your favour's with the Ventrue, so we'll get something to hold over those stuck-up bastards, yes?"

"Yeah, that's the size o' it."

"Good enough, Upworlder. Follow me."

*********************************************

Logan sniffed the air, cautiously, before moving forward on silent feet. Every sense was alert for signs of danger. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder. Jubilee was next in line, about ten yards behind him, then Kurt supporting Amanda, then the huge figure of Hank. There was no sign of the vampire, Meggan, nor of Cat. Not that he expected to see either of them yet - they were at the back, at least twenty or thirty yards away.

Then his head whipped round, and he held up a hand in warning. The rest of the party froze, and quickly took cover, as the stocky Garou dropped into a fighting crouch. There was something ahead of him which set his combat senses on edge. His eyes strained to see what might be out there.

The shadows moved. Three men, young men as far as he could see, all of them dressed as street punks. He wondered why they made the hair on the back of his neck stand up - after all, three human punks wouldn't be much of a threat. He stepped forward to confront them.

"Now what's a nice bunch o' kids doin' out this time o' night?"

The three youths stopped, looking at him. Then, as one, they brought their right arms up to bear on him, and he knew what they had to be.

< Shit, Iteration-X hit machines! They hunt an' kill anythin' supernatural they c'n find! >

The barrels of automatic weapons emerged from the palms of their hands.

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