Chapter 11: 11. Some Stay The Same

“H-how?” Zeff stumbled. “It has to be a lie…”

He hadn’t killed anyone! And certainly not a cop.

“It’s a lie.”

Zeff didn’t know it, but he had a deranged yet agonized smile on his face.

“It’s a lie!” he yelled at the screen again.

The Anchor went on moments later. “This is Melvin Moore with News at 7. It was a normal Thursday night in Fate,Texas. Shops were closing. Parents and children were comfy and cozy in their beds. Everything seemed like business as usual.

“But no one could know just how horribly things were about to take a turn for the worst. As we reported this morning, at 11:14 last night an explosion like a nuclear bomb and just as loud rocked the small town of Fate, waking many from their peaceful sleep. We go now, live, to Francine Fontaine who is at the scene. Francine?”

There was a short delay as Francine fidgeted with her earpiece. “Thanks Mel. You said it. We now have even more information about the events of last night. For you viewers who are just tuning in, last night there was, indeed, an explosion as we reported this morning. But between that report this morning and now, more details have emerged which have shed more light on the events surrounding yesterday’s explosion. And they might surprise you.” She was walking along the road on the far side of the park where the shops and buildings were. Directly behind her, RedBob’s stood in complete ruin. There was yellow tape surrounding it, stopping anyone from entering. “Little did anyone know, that the owner and manager of RedBob’s, DwainePricksson, and one of his employees, Zephaniah Corad, were planning a heist to end all heists. But greed and deception would cause their otherwise clever plan to go horribly wrong.”

“W-what? A Heist?! What are you talking about!?” Screamed Zeff, throwing his hands up in the air.

“At about 10:50 last night a van, full of Corad’s and Pricksson’s accomplices, pulled into the grass just over there in Fate Central Park, parking behind a bush.” Francine said, pointing off camera. “Their plan was simple: Corad and Pricksson would rob their own store.”

Melvin interrupted with a question. “As I heard it, that’s only the beginning.”

“Right, you are, Mel. As it turns out, after robbing his own store of every penny, Pricksson would *detonate a makeshift bomb*, passing it off as a gas explosion, in his own diner to hide that fact, collecting insurance money and splitting it with his accomplices.

“Or at least that was the plan. Until Corad decided that he didn’t want just a cut of the cash. He wanted the whole cake. But, Mel, the story gets even more ridiculous.”

“How so?” asked Melvin with a stern and inquisitive look on his face.

“It might be easier to show you. Be warned, some viewers might find the following footage very disturbing.”

The screen shifted to soundless and grainy camera footage from inside of the restaurant. Zeff, his back facing the camera, had a big black bag tossed over his shoulder. A few moments passed before Dwaine, wearing a cunning sneer, came around the corner into frame from the back of the diner. He was also carrying a big bag in his arms containing, presumably, money.

As Dwaine came around the corner of the counter, he froze, his eyes focused behind Zeff, as the diner door swung open. Zeff and Dwaine both took out their guns and pointed them at the person who had just opened the door and who was just off screen. The next moment Zeff seemed to be barking out orders at the person as suddenly a man that looked very familiar backed up, moving in reverse, facing the camera and away from Zeff and Dwaine, with his hands on his head.

“Could you describe to us what’s happening, Francine.”

“It seems-” Began Francine, “That as Corad and Pricksson are just about to take the money, a late night customer comes into the diner.”

Zeff, watching in disbelief, was completely flabbergasted. The ‘customer’, who looked to be authentically horrified, was none other than the Tender-Man.

As Tender-Man finally reached Zeff and Dwaine, Zeff suddenly and brutally struck him over the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him unconscious. In a single swift motion he then turned on Dwaine and pointed the gun at him. Dwaine’s mouth fell open in shock as he raised his hands in surrender. In no time at all Zeff forced him to his knees and knocked him out just as he had done to the Tender-Man. He then picked up the bags and walked off camera, out of the diner.

“This is utterly insane!”fumed Zeff, his disbelief becoming rage. Who would believe this!? The Zeff in the camera footage was still the ‘pre-transformation’ Zeff. He was still very short compared to both the Tender-Man and even Dwaine, and even had to stand on the tips of his toes just to knock the Tender-Man out.

Francine went on. “Corad then proceeded to leave the diner and, get this, have a *shoot out* with his accomplices waiting in the van!” She was almost laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. “Due to time constraints and the graphic nature of the footage take from cameras in the park we can’t show it. But it seems that what ended up happening was that a stray bullet hit the makeshift bomb they had waiting in the van, resulting in a huge explosion, killing all but two of the men.”

“All but two?”

“Yes. It seems one of the two, who we have reason to believe is still at large, likely traveling with Corad, was working with Corad to betray the others.”

“And the other?”

Francine paused for a second then said, “As a result of the explosion, a piece of the van’s axle was blown off with such force that it went through the man’s body, cutting him clean in half only to continue through the air towards RedBob’s where it practically destroyed the entire store, raining down debris and rubble on the two unconscious men inside. Don’t worry, as reported this morning, the customer who was knocked out, whose name the hasn’t been released, is recovering in the hospital and will make a full recovery. Pricksson is also in the hospital and will likely be interrogated the moment he is fit enough.

“All of our information comes from emails and texts between Corad and Pricksson that were sent anonymously to us and the police department.”

“My word. What a mess…” said Mel with a sigh, then, without skipping a beat, he asked, “But where does the murder of the Royse City police officer fit into all this?”

“Well, today, as the RCPD was attempting to apprehend Corad—” Francine began looking down at her notes.

Zeff’s breath was trapped in his chest and refused to come out as he anticipated what was coming.

“Mr. Corad struck an officer in the gut while attempting to evade arrest resulting in the officer’s liver rupturing… Unfortunately, he was dead at the scene before the paramedics arrived—”

Zeff’s ears were ringing as the sound of the anchor’s voice suddenly faded away and the world began to collapse in on him.

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‘Murderer…’ Came a deep voice, followed by a bestial cackle that would make dogs howl. ‘Thou art still the like as ere. Utterly hopelessss…’

“No…” Zeff shook his head and put his hands on his ears to block out the voice.

‘Aye, but thou art. Pathetic ape…’

“No!”

‘What would thy dear mother and father regard of thee now? Their son, a murderer?’ The voiced cackled again. “No wonder they forswore thee. They knew what thou really art…”

“NOOO!”

“Murderer. MONSTER!”

“SHUT UP!!” Zeff Screamed at the top of his lungs, throwing his fist forward at no one in particular.

If Zeff had had his eyes open he would have seen that, seconds ago, the azure terminal had popped up in front of him. It read: “Conditions to unlock <<Reactive Skill: Dragon’s Rage >> satisfied. SP Cost: 0, Unlocked and Activated.”

*****

Zeff couldn’t have known it, but Sylvan had been conscious since minutes before they had even entered this house and had done well to keep his eyes closed.

It wasn’t that he had been feigning unconsciousness.

On the contrary. He was in more pain now than he had ever felt. His head was pounding like someone had taken a sledge hammer to it and he felt extremely sick. The virus flowing through his veins was really taking its toll on him and after their crash landing he could no longer just endure the pain and discomfort. For that reason he had resolved to just let Zeff carry him into the house where he could rest his body and mind.

He wouldn’t have admitted it if asked, but he was also a bit scared of talking with Zeff. The doctor knew that Zeff would have many questions for him. Many question that he couldn’t or didn’t want to answer and he was afraid. He was already fond of the boy, and for various reasons he wished to keep his trust. He would hold off telling Zeff the truth for as long as possible.

That’s when the late night news had re-run the 7 PM broadcast from earlier in the day.

Sylvan had listened for the past several minutes to the nonsense emanating from the screen. He felt horrible for Zeff, as Zeff screamed and cursed at the screen with incredulity and anger, but he wasn’t at all surprised himself. He knew that such a thing was nothing to the Inner Ring. This was no doubt the handiwork of Rendall…

Zeff would likely be worried. He’d likely have more questions. But they would have to wait until Sylvan was fully recovered.

‘No…’ said Zeff under his breath, interrupting Sylvan’s thoughts.

Sylvan slightly opened his right eye. Zeff was shaking his head in disbelief and covering his ears.

‘Poor boy…’ He had thought somberly. ‘He’ll—’

“No!” Said Zeff, louder than before, now shaking his head vigorously.

Sylvan sat up on the couch, confused. He, at once, felt extremely dizzy but he managed to keep himself propped up and said uneasily, “Zeff-Boy?”

“NOOO!” bewailed Zeff as he began to bend over at the waist and whimper softly.

Sylvan jumped rather awkwardly to his feet. “Zeff-Boy!” Was all he could say as smoke, red as blood, slowly began to rise from Zeff’s body.

‘Oh, no…’ bemoaned Sylvan as images of Rutigorn, The Woeful flashed through his mind. He thought at first that Zeff was about to transform again, but he quickly realized that something else was happening. Before, Zeff’s body had begun transforming before the smoke came and the smoke had been both black and red, unlike now. Maybe this was a skill activating?

*Shoom!* Without warning a powerful stream of wind blasted through the room, knocking Sylvan down and dislodging photos and paintings from the walls. The designer ceiling fan fell with a great crash and some of the windows shattered from the air pressure.

“Zeff! Pull yourself together!” Sylvan cried over the sudden raucous and roaring wind.

“SHUT UP!!” Zeff wailed at the ceiling, tossing his head back. His voice was loud, yet now it was deeper and guttural…much like Rutigorn’s.

Zeff Pulled his fist back and then, with strength and power that could only be seen and not described, he punched the TV with all his might. *DURRRSH!* Said the world as something like a sonic boom hit Sylvan with enough force to lift him off the couch.

When he was finally able to gather himself he looked wide-eyed with disbelief at the scene before him.

Just there in front of him, the TV, the wall behind it and even the bricks and mortar behind that, were gone, scattered through the midnight woods. The moon shown through the place where the wall had been and the gentle sound of the wind through leaves filled the room.

Zeff had fallen to his knees and was weeping bitterly, scarlet smoke rising from his body all the while.

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