Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Duo Maxwell, Gun for Hire ❯ Welcome to Cloud Nine ( Chapter 2 )

Reviewers thank you! You know who you are! I appreciate it! As for the rest of you, tut tut. Don't you know that writers love feed back. Silly readers, please leave feedback.

 

For disclaimer: see last chapter. Also, I don't own Mandy. A cookie to anyone who can guess where she's from.

 

I've also gotten requests for a glossary for some of my terms. Well, that would take an entire chapter. So I'll give you a few at the end of every chapter, hopefully that will help.

 

~@~

 

So that night went rather well. After the confrontation with the deadly undead duo, I was rescued by good ole Milliardo. God Bless his undead heart.

 

Seriously, I could have kissed the guy. The last time I was in a room with those two, I barely escaped with my life and a useless gun arm. Not conductive to living in the world I live in. It took me nearly six months to find a willing Tzimisce to help me because there was no way in hell I'd let a human doctor try and fix me. Nuh huh. No way. Not with how medicine was in the 40's.

 

So I got to hang around with Blondie and Mr. Ventrue for a while. Needless to say, I was bored. So I wandered off with Noin as my bodyguard of course. There was no way I wasn't going anywhere with out back-up with those two wandering around.

 

When the party finally ended, I had learned the name of almost everyone in the city. With the exception of the two most untalkative people I've ever met. The green-eyed walking armory and Mr. Gangrel.

 

So now I'm back in this little rat hole of a motel. The moment Noin saw it she told me she was going to get me a nice apartment somewhere in the city. Tried to talk her out of it, but apparently there's no winning with that woman. Lucky me, I'm so pathetic I need to get handouts from the local bloodsuckers.

 

Just shoot me. Well at least now I know what I was hired for. I was handed the blueprints at the end of the night last night, so guess what I'm doing now?

 

Yeah, going over the layout of Marie's Double. Interesting joint even if I think the owner's a little shady. The place had two stories, a basement that serves as an emergency haven, the second story is really a big balcony that over looks the bar and dance floor with a DJ's booth and the three offices with sitting area for VIP's. Yet, it's supposedly incomplete. Wonder what this place was missing. It's obvious it has a liquor license; either that or that was all bootleg liquor.

 

There were escape routes everywhere. The basement had various tunnels off shooting from it. My guess is that it was a Nosferatu idea or we have one really paranoid Kindred in the city. I'm betting it's a combination of both.

 

So after planning ways of making this oh so innocent looking bar a stronghold, I needed sleep. So hello pillow, goodnight world!

 

~@~

 

Knock. Knock.

 

Grumble, grumble, and rustle, cursing of people's ancestry.

 

My eyes opened to glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 4pm. I'd been asleep for nearly 4 hours. Damn it. Whoever is disturbing my sleep better have a damn good reason.

 

It takes me a bit, but I do eventually get up to answer the door in my black boxers and baggy T-shirt.

 

A crimson blush appeared on Noin's face when I opened the door. Guess she isn't used to seeing sleep deprived men just rolling out of bed. Serves her right.

 

“Hello Mr. Maxwell, do you normally greet ladies like this in the afternoon?”

 

That got a raised eyebrow and an amused look out of me. Least things like this didn't catch her off guard. It makes me wonder what would though. Might have to find out later.

 

So about 20 minutes later found me in my junk heap of a car with my bags messily repacked, following Noin's little black SUV with it's tinted windows to a place that I've never been before.

 

~@~

 

“Damn, talk about having some serious cash.” I couldn't help it when I got out of my junker. This place was a first rate apartment building. Apparently they thought I was worth the money. Or they though I'd live the year. The verdicts still out on that second and probably the first as well.

 

So she got me settled into this nice, two story apartment. The second story was really somewhat of a balcony over looking the living room that served as the bedroom with a kitchenette underneath it.

 

The place was bare for the moment. Hell, before I could even comment on the lack of say, a bed or cooking supplies, she mentioned that everything would be arriving tomorrow.

 

So basically, I get handed a place to live with everything taken care of. Damn it. Some days being the only living necromancer can be so troublesome. Other days have their perks. This might be might be one of those days.

 

Noin left me alone after awhile with my own key. Thanks mother, I'll be good mother. So now what? There's no TV, all I have with me is my clothes and whatever the hell else is in my car. Luckily that included a raggedy old blanket and a flat pillow. Better than nothing. Plus I'm wide-awake. I hate being wide-awake.

 

I look down at the clock on my cell. Its 6:45 pm. Sunsets around 7 or 8 pm. Got to hate the fall. It means that the fang faces get longer and longer days. Winter's practically their season and summer the bane of their existence.

 

So what to do? That is the question that sums up my entire existence. You'd think I'd have figured that out by now. No, apparently, being 122 years old and looking 19 doesn't help answer that particular question. That just plain sucks. Hell, I get carded every time I try entering a bar. Let's not even mention the hassle I have to go through when it comes to things like a driver's license and shit like that. Life is so unfair.

 

Let see, any clean clothes? Why not, lets wander the town, just need some cleaner, and doesn't look like I wore them to bed.

 

Success! I was wondering where this was. It was one of my tight, black shirts I bought in London when I was there last. Nice place, ungodly wet though. This particular one had mesh sleeves that went all the way down to my wrists. The sleeves were attached to the shirt with small straps. Nice clubbing shirt. Hell, why not, lets see what this place's nightlife is like minus the undead.

 

More rummaging found a pair of clean low riding black jeans. Now that the outfit was picked out, lets look for the accessories. More throwing things about and cursing until I found what I was looking for. A leather wristband for my right arm and a leather studded collar. Perfect, now I was ready to face the night. Add to this a trench coat and a small handgun and you have a necromancer looking for some fun while being tastefully armed.

 

Moments later found me, and my infamous braid, in my junker taking off for down town. I noticed there was a small, two story parking garage on the street before the main strip. It was the perfect place to hide the rust bucket.

 

So let's see, Marie's double was towards the end of the strip. There was a club called Cloud Nine, a small pub called the Doghouse, a few restaurants, some with seaside themes, one amusingly enough had a Goth graveyard feel to it. Might have to check that out later. The Crimson Rose stood out with its red neon sign and an advertisement in the window claiming to cater to all of a person's private needs.

 

So that was Molly Beckett's sex shop? I was expecting something tacky and tasteless. This seemed to be elegant and refined. If it weren't for the display of some suggestive items on display, I'd have thought it was a day spa or something.

 

You know, they say that curiosity killed the cat. Good thing I'm not a cat. I couldn't help it. I had to wander in. The inside was just as elegant as the outside. Items like vibrators and similar items were displayed discretely. While items used for bedroom games, or sensual items, where displayed in plain site. She seemed to have quite the collection of costumes on display also. She had everything from a dress composed completely of electric tape to a naughty nurses outfit.

 

Far as I could tell, this store catered to every fantasy I could think of. And some I'd rather not think of.

 

At the counter stood Molly, playing with a diamond ring around her ring finger.

 

I made my way up to the counter and gave her a charming smile. “I have to admit, this store far exceeds expectations. You've got everything here.”

 

I guess she hadn't noticed me at first cause when I spoke she jumped. She had this startled dazed look on her face before shaking her head and snapping out of it. “Thank you Mr. Maxwell. I pride myself on keeping this place in full working order and filling the needs of my customers.” She gave me this slight, grin.

 

I nodded as I caught a closer look at the ring. To my surprise it was an engagement ring. That's something you don't see everyday on a vamp. “Nice ring, if I'm not mistaken that's quite the engagement ring.”

 

She tensed up, her other hand going to cover the ring from sight. “Y-yes, well…” she seemed to be at a loss for words.

 

“Must be one special guy to give you that.” I continued on, ignoring her discomfort. My necro-senses were tingling. As her nervousness grew, her aura seemed to change. There was something definitely not right with this woman. When I asked Milliardo what clan she was, he said Toreador. I had my doubts.

 

She clutched her hands to her chest, her eyes downcast as she barely whispered. “Not a guy, and yes, she was special.”

 

So it was a woman that proposed to her. Where was this person now I wonder? My power cascaded around her, tasting and dissecting her nervous aura. I detected a hint of insanity. That hint grew more and more as the moments wore on. Whatever she was, she had more insanity that anyone had a right to.

 

Tears escaped her as she whimpered. The sound of a door opened. I looked up to find two worried twins coming towards their mistress.

 

“Molly? What's wrong?” Ree softly called out as she came closer to us. I made my power encompass the two. Both were bonded to her, Ree the full three point bond and Mar two. That's something interesting to note.

 

Mar shot me a glare as her sister tended to their Mistress. She rounded on me. I was amused to note I was taller than her. Finally there was someone I was taller than. I'm usually the shortest one around sadly enough.

 

“What the hell did you do to her!” she was livid. She kind of reminded me of a mad little chipmunk trying to scold a cat for stealing its nuts.

 

I shrugged. “I asked her about her ring. That's all, honest.”

 

They exchanged looks and starting to talk to Molly in a language that I think might have been French. It's been awhile since I've heard it so I don't quite remember how to translate. All I could tell was that they were definitely not calling her Molly. I caught the name Sadie more than once from the both of them. Huh, wonder why. Time to file that way into the files titled: Weird things to check into. I think it's time to hunt down the Nos.

 

 

~@~

 

It wasn't long after that I was chased out of the shop. Molly had been reduced to a crying, child like wreck with her two ghoulettes tending her.

 

So where to now? Well, we could try one of the nightclubs. Cloud Nine looked promising. Time to get in line.

 

So twenty minutes later finally found me at the door. The bouncers stared down at my short stature and started to demand ID when their earpieces crackled to life. Next thing I know, I'm being ushered in.

 

If that didn't send up alarms I don't know what would. Two hulky guys were escorting me to the VIP section. I was itching to go for my gun.

 

Being the paranoid little necromancer that I am, I sent a tendril of my power out.

 

Shit. The two beside me were Brujah's. There were at least a dozen more random vampires through out the club with the biggest power signatures right up ahead. Right where I was being herded. Lets see how well I can get my ass out of any problems, shall we?

 

The muscle twins, both your average bald, black wearing muscle headed bouncers with superhuman strength, stopped in front of a closed door and ushered me into a private lounge. So either I've made friends and didn't know it or someone wants to try and buy my affections.

 

My guess is they want to by my affections.

 

“Welcome to my humble club Mr. Maxwell.”

 

So this was the owner? She was definitely taller than me, maybe 5'10 to my 5'6. A wide black headband held her long, blond hair back. Her eyes were peculiar coal grey that seemed to bore into you. She was someone I definitely didn't want to mess with.

 

It took me a moment to realize she was the Lasombra that walked in with Mr. Gangrel last night.

 

Speaking of which, Mr. Gangrel happened to be seated not far from his benefactor. Not that I was complaining, this guy was hot. He was even better looking up close and the clothes he was wearing didn't leave much to the imagination. I mean, come on, his pants were obviously black leather and looked poured on. His shirt was nearly non-existent. God I love mesh shirts. I noticed around his neck was a pair of dog tags. I couldn't see what was written on them from here, but it made me wonder if they were novelty dog tags or the real deal. Maybe I'd finally learn Mr. Yummy's name.

 

“Yeah, no problem Ma'am. I'm just looking for a night on the town and, well, this place looked inviting. So here I am.” I gave her a flirty smile, hoping that she'd fall under my witty charm. Hey, it works in the movies.

 

She seemed to be nonplused, as she didn't even bat an eyelash to my natural charms. Huh, maybe she batted for the other team. Or she's asexual. Hey, why not, weirder shit has happened in my lifetime.

 

“Then I hope you enjoy yourself. If there's anything I can do to make your stay here in Twilight more pleasurable, please let me know.” She gave me this, fake, obviously practiced smile. If it weren't for her aura feeling like shadows, I'd have though she was a Ventrue with that legendary stick up her ass shoved way to far in there.

 

I just gave her a plain smile this time. If she wasn't going to bow down to my natural charms, then fine, I'll save it for someone who will. “I'll keep that in mind Ms…” Hopefully she'll get the hint and fill in her name.

 

“Ms. Welshman. Mandy Welshman.” She supplied as she glanced toward her bodyguard. “And this is Heero Yuy, my business partner.”

 

So that's what she was calling her bodyguard. Or hell, maybe I got it all wrong. I just hope he bats for my team or at least is Bi like myself. That would be nice. It definitely would make this year go by a lot quicker, that's for sure.

 

Heero Yuy just looked up when his name was called. I could tell he hadn't been paying attention to us. In fact, he had his head turned and was starring off with a suspicious red drink held in one hand. I didn't need to be a bloodhound to know what that was. He merely nodded towards me as his eyes landed on me. I had to suppress a triumphant shout when I saw him check me out in all of my clubbing glory. Yes! Go me!

 

“Hn. I don't see why the council decided he would make a good Keeper. Chang or Barton would have done just as well.”

 

Crash. Burn. Ouch. Damn it. Not my night.

 

“And what can those two do that I can't do?”

 

“Command a crowd, hold their own in a fight and move fast enough to make a difference.”

 

I winced. Okay, so I couldn't do any of that, but I'd like to think that my natural talent made up for that. “Oh yeah? Well, lets see what they can do against me. So there.” Hello moment of immaturity, thank you for setting me up to get my ass kicked.

 

“Hn.”

 

“That would be an interesting match up, wouldn't you agree Yuy? After all, you hold yourself and your colleagues in such high esteem. Hence, the reason I hired you lot.” Ms. Mandy looked a little too interested in this conversation for my tastes. I don't think I like where this was going.

 

I gave a nervous chuckle. “Hey now, if you didn't think I was up to snuff for the job of keeper, why did this city hire me?”

 

“I didn't. The Camarilla did. I care only for my section of the city and could care less with what everyone else does.”

 

Okay so that was interesting. So the Independents don't care for me being here. That makes me wonder exactly who hired me, all three sects, or just the Cam.

 

“Right, and who is this council that your boy Heero over there mentioned?”

 

“Ah, that little farce. The leaders in the Camarilla and the Sabbat thought it necessary to form a … primogen council with representatives from all sides. My two representatives were ignored. It was a four against two vote.”

 

Huh, so in other words, watch out for them. I was thinking I had to watch my back against the Sabbat. Geesh, next thing I'll be learning is that the sky is green and the grass is blue.

 

“Well, that's nice to know… “ I looked a little apprehensive and I knew it. Hell, wouldn't you if you just found out you were standing in front of someone that didn't want you here?

 

“Oh don't worry Mr. Maxwell, we have no plans on interfering with your duties. In fact, please do them. It saves me valuable man power that I am paying for.”

 

“Perhaps we should tell him what happened to the last `neutral' keeper?”

 

I turned my head towards where I thought the soft voice was coming from. I was surprised to see Mr. Walking Armory and Mr. Katana boy there.

 

Katana Boy, I knew for a fact was named Chang Wufei. I learned that from Treize. The guy couldn't keep his eyes of this Chinese man all night. I think it might have annoyed Une. It was hard to tell with her. However, his compatriot was a complete mystery to me. I've never met a Brujah that was so calm like this before. This guy was stone faced and even his aura had sort of tranquil feel to it. If this guy had the passion and rage that all Brujah were famous for, the he hid it well.

 

“If you wish.” Ms. Welshman seemed to loose interest at that point and went to pour herself a drink. It was then I noticed that there was a mirror behind the mini bar. I stared at it in slight fascination. Her reflection didn't show up, but mine and nearly everyone else's did. Except for Mr. Green Eyes over there.

 

“The weakling that they appointed was a former FBI agent turned Camarilla Toreador. The pathetic fool was blown up by a car bomb rigged to the underside of his Lincoln. The idiot didn't know how to shoot his way out of a paper bag, let alone know how to do a proper sword match. Damn Toreadors and their need for artistic perfection. Sure didn't do him any good.” Ranted one Wufei Chang. This guy must be great at parties. When it's time to pack up just let him loose.

 

Chang's companion stood there, waiting for the tirade to be done. “As you can see, we have many capable bodies. We did not feel the need to outsource and hire you. However, the Sabbat and Camarilla did. To their credit, you did come highly recommended by two of the current elders in the city.”

 

Ding! Ding! Warning signs ho! “Elders? What elders?”

 

“Victoria Winter and her comrade Johann.” Heero stood up, setting his drink down on a nearby table. “They were most adamant that the city hire you. They said that the city could only benefit from a human Necromancer governing Elysium.”

 

“When we brought up that a Giovanni would do just as well, they turned it down. They said you could do their job better, faster, and easier than they could.” Green Eyes added.

 

“Well, for the record, they copied me. Not the other way around.” I stated as I rubbed my eyes. What I thought was a simple babysitting job was turning out to be so much more.

 

“Be that as it may, perhaps it's best you be on your guard. Even with your alluded to powers, we are not convinced that you are better than us at our jobs.”

 

Okay, now immaturity rearing its ugly head again. “And what's that supposed to mean? I'm more than capable of holding my own against your kind fang face.”

 

Moment the words left my mouth I felt a blade against my throat. My power reacted and attacked my attacker.

 

A fierce wind picked up, throwing around loose papers and dislodging pillows from the seats and the sound of several wine glasses shattering. My power wrapped around the person holding the katana and filled him like a cup, spilling over when he became full. I turned my head towards him. I briefly recognized Wufei as he held the katana to my neck. A smile found its way to my face as I felt him become mine. Mine to command, to control.

 

My power pushed him back, commanded him to drop the sword and kneel. He fought it with every bit of willpower he had, but in the end lost.

 

I stood over him as the wind died down. I could feel every single vampire in the club, their undead blood calling out to me, wanting me to command them.

 

My head tilted to the side as he looked up at me in fear. “Wuffers, that wasn't very nice. Now what have we learned?”

 

I looked around at everyone else in the room and noted that the only ones that hadn't taken cover were Heero and green eyes.

 

Trowa. His name was Trowa Barton. My power broke against him, begging to have him as it raced around him. Another portion of my power was playing with Heero's messy brown locks, again begging to be used.

 

I frowned and tried to concentrate. Damn I felt drunk. I guess I swayed a bit because next thing I knew I was being caught by someone. At some point my eyes closed cause when I opened them again I was staring up at Prussian blue eyes. Intense. Curious.

 

My back arched. A scream echoed through the room as my power rushed at him, crashing through him and settling down. That was the last thing I remembered.

 

 

~@~

 

Glossary: All terms are from the game Vampires the Masquerade. I don't own. Sorry. They belong to White Wolf Publishing.

 

Ventrue: Blue Bloods, Patricians Warlords. They consider themselves one of the ruling clans of kindred. As such, they normally embrace nobility, politicians, CEOs or equally powerful men and women. They think they know what's best for everyone and stick to traditions. (Affiliation: Camarilla)

 

Toreador: Artisans, Torries. The clan consists of some of the most beautiful and glamorous kindred. Some are actually quite famous, or infamous. They are all artisans and innovators. They are probably the most human like of all the clans. (Affiliation: Camarilla)

 

Kindred: Vampires.

 

Elysium: a neutral place that kindred can meet. Usually, there are no weapons or powers allowed here.

 

Keeper of Elysium: Keeps the peace here and is usually in charge of security and events that may take place. They are responsible for everything that happens in here.

 

Clan: you could say these are families or types of vampires. Each one is different and unique.

 

Generation: essentially, how many steps away they are from the original vampire, Cain (yes the biblical Cain)

 

Camarilla: an organization of vampires that believes in using the Masquerade to protect themselves from humans. Essentially, they believe in hiding from humanity by mimicking humanity and not drawing attention to themselves. The Camarilla or Cam is supported by six of the 13 clans even though they consider all kindred Camarilla. They uphold laws known as traditions.

 

Sabbat: a loose organization of cainites (Vampires) that reject the traditions and masquerade. They believe that Cain and the Antediluvians (the progenitors of their clans) will one-day return. They organize themselves in packs and are more tightly organized than the Camarilla. Since they don't care for the masquerade, they have no problems causing havoc and letting people know they're there. The Sabbat is mostly comprised of two of the 13 clans and various other kindred from different clans that reject the Cam.

 

Hope these terms help!